Deborah Bloomfield

The last thing you might expect to find in a completely dark cave in China is a unicorn. But for researchers, that is exactly what happened. The new species belongs to the genus Sinocyclocheilus and has a rather unusual appearance – but, of course, the classic unicorn horn. In southern China, 32 specimens were collected from […]

All those colorful feathers make it pretty easy to tell a male peacock from a female peahen, and we know that only male lions have manes – well, usually, anyway. But sexual dimorphism is more than just skin-deep. New research has decoded, for the first time, the genetic pathways that lead to sex-linked differences in […]

This article first appeared in Issue 13 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. Did you know that one of the best places on Earth to enjoy opera is inside a cave? It sounds weird, but it’s true: the acoustics of New Zealand’s Waitomo Caves are off the charts. That’s why, back in 2021, an intimate performance […]

NASA’s Trojan asteroids-bound Lucy spacecraft has safely passed the asteroid Dinkinesh marking a major milestone in the mission, NASA has announced. As a small main belt asteroid, Dinkinesh is not one of the prime targets of the mission, but that’s no reason to pass up whatever information a visit can provide. Moreover, the flyby offers […]

This article first appeared in Issue 13 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. Urchins get a bad rap for kelp forest degradation, but a BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition winner by Kate Vylet recently shone a light on the good they do as detritivores.  Advertisement By nibbling up the rubbish that’s fallen to the seafloor, they […]

In the modern age of social media and mobile communications, we humans have never been more connected to each other. But still, loneliness is a common – and often damaging – experience. When does being on your own tip over into feelings of loneliness? According to a new study, aloneness and loneliness are much less […]

When it comes to fruit and veg, we’re probably all aware of the 5-a-day rule, but does it matter which five we choose? Are all veggies created equal, or are some better than others for meeting our daily vitamin and mineral needs?  As it happens, the answer is yes – some vegetables do pack more […]

The American Ornithological Society (AOS) has announced that birds named directly after people will have their English names changed, with the eponym elimination effort starting with a pilot program in 2024 with a focus on 70-80 species found mostly in the United States and Canada. How English bird names are selected will also be changed, […]

Earlier this week we reported the story of three stars that back in July 1952 disappeared within an hour from the night sky forever, leaving behind a mystery with several possible explanations. But these are not the only stars that have gone missing, not by a long shot. In 2019, the Vanishing and Appearing Sources […]

Imagination is among the most complex and magical functions of the human brain, yet new research suggests that we aren’t the only species with the ability to take flight in our mind’s eye. According to the results of a new study, even the lowly rat has the capacity to dream up fictional journeys, traveling to […]

A new design of floating wind turbine could soon be bobbing on the shores of Norway. Oslo-based start-up World Wide Wind (WWW) has just got the go-ahead to test out their novel design at a site in Vats, southwest Norway. “We are very proud to test our first prototype in cooperation with AF Gruppen and […]

Reports of strange lights or other objects in the sky have occurred for thousands of years, some of which modern minds might call unidentified flying objects (UFOs).  Early references to unusual events come from between 223 to 91 BCE, with Greek and Roman accounts describing “sky fire”, “chasms”, and “night suns” in the sky. Looking […]

While cruising high above the Sahara desert (around 400 kilometers), an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) spotted a giant ghostly skull staring back at them. Fortunately, it isn’t the bones of an ancient giant, nor the entrance to the lair of an evil genus, but a strangely shaped volcanic crater. The image was shared […]

What happens when you faint? Until very recently, the scientific answer to that was, “We’re not totally sure.” A new study has shed some light on this mystery by identifying, for the first time, the genetic pathway between the brain and heart that’s responsible for fainting. Fainting – or, to use the more science-y term, […]

There have only been just over 600 people in orbit around the planet and only three – cosmonauts Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev – have lost their lives above the Kármán line, the edge of space. But fascination with what would happen if your body was exposed to the vacuum of space has […]

While the fuzz you find on peaches may seem like a random (and frankly quite adorable) evolutionary trait of this humble fruit, it does, in fact, serve a very specific purpose. The peaches’ fuzzy surface is actually used as a defence mechanism and deterrent against the pesky bugs that want to chow down on and […]

Animal intelligence researchers are just starting to discover the capabilities of many species. Perhaps more than any other birds, corvids – including ravens, crows, jays, and Northern Hemisphere magpies – have proven astoundingly smart, and challenged ideas about the biological basis for intelligence. If you doubt that crows are smart, take a look at some […]

Quantum mechanics affects the small and tiny usually, but at extremely low temperatures quantum behavior can become macroscopic. This is the case of helium, which can be a superfluid: a liquid that flows without losing any kinetic energy. An interesting consequence of that is that a superfluid in an open container will crawl up its […]

Wildlife rescue efforts might be as simple as removing that spider from your bedroom back into the garden, or helping an animal caught in a snare. But how do you go about saving some of the largest animals on Earth when they get into trouble, especially if they’re in the sea? Fortunately for one juvenile […]

New research has signaled that smartphones may impact the sperm quality of young men. Fear not, though. While researchers in the field have praised the robustness of the study, they have added that the findings shouldn’t spark panic and the cause of humanity’s “spermageddon” remains elusive.  It’s been widely suggested that sperm count and quality […]