Deborah Bloomfield

An oil pipeline megaproject is planned to carve through East Africa despite major concerns about how it will impact the climate, local communities, and biodiversity.  The East Africa Crude Oil Export Pipeline (EACOP) is a planned pipeline that’s set to run for 1,443 kilometers (896 miles) between oilfields on the shores of Lake Albert in […]

Each year, it seems like more and more environmental devastation is happening across the globe: we have seen summer heatwaves, emperor penguins failing to breed due to the lack of sea ice, and many wildfires. So, there has never been a greater need for effective sustainability practices.  As such, sustainability has been a big discussion […]

Remember the days when a long drive in high summer would make your car’s windshield look like the site of an insect massacre? If you’ve noticed that this sight is becoming increasingly uncommon, you’re not alone. Ecologists have also discovered a decline in the number of bug splatters on car windows, and some believe that […]

If you’ve ever thrown a ball, climbed a tree, or reached the cereal off the top shelf in the supermarket you could have apes to thank. Research looking into the downclimbing habitats of monkeys and apes has suggested that the shoulders and flexible elbows that evolved in apes helped our ancestors reach the ground without […]

Your fingertips remember the things you touch, and this memory affects how sensory information is relayed to the brain. Now, new research is demonstrating just how important this concept could be to our ability to perform everyday tasks that most of us hardly even think about. An action as simple as picking up your coffee […]

On the Moon, as well as several robots, some tardigrades, a family photograph, and maybe even some dinosaur remains, you will find 96 bags of human poop. On the way up to the Moon, Apollo astronauts collected their urine in tanks, while anyone who needed to poop had to strap a bag over their anus […]

In a bid to streamline the muddled story of human evolution, an international team of scientists has put forward the case for classifying a new species of extinct human, Homo bodoensis, that’s a direct ancestor of us, modern humans.  Reported in the journal Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews, their new identification is a reassessment […]

In the Jordan Rift Valley of Israel, archeologists unearthed a truly baffling archeological discovery. At a site dating to 1.4 million years ago, they discovered dozens of surprisingly spherical balls made out of limestone. In a new study, researchers put forward their evidence to argue that these enigmatic artifacts were intentionally crafted by early humans, […]

JWST can detect many interesting gases in the atmospheres of exoplanets. As those distant worlds pass in front of their stars, their atmospheres filter light, leaving an impression of its components that the telescope can detect. If an alien civilization has its own JWST, it would be able to do the same with Earth, and […]

The US Government is using the US District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, to attempt to block the next trip to the wreckage of the Titanic. Many shipwrecks, such as military ships that have sunk in US waters, are off-limits to explorers, tourists, and people looking to salvage booty. The Titanic, lying in international waters, is […]

A six-month-old’s eyes turned an unusual shade of blue, in what doctors believe was a rare complication from a treatment for COVID-19. The boy was first brought to doctors following the development of a cough and fever, before an antigen test confirmed that he had COVID-19. He was prescribed favipiravir by the doctors, which is […]

Forget UFOs from faraway planets – there’s an Earth-borne type of alien we might need to be worried about. According to a major new report, invasive alien species could pose a significant global threat to nature and humans alike. Alien species are organisms that humans have introduced to areas other than their natural habitat, intentionally […]

We’ve all been there. You’re stumbling home after a few drinks on a Saturday night when a moral philosopher jumps out of a bin and hits you with a sudden hypothetical moral dilemma.  Usually, you’re ready for such devious assaults, but the drink has addled your judgment and now you find yourself spouting utilitarian answers […]

For the first time, astronomers have observed a dark spot on Neptune from the ground and also discovered a bright spot companion next to it. These features have no clear origin, but the work provides new insight into how these peculiar features come to form in the first place. While spots like the Great Red […]

Vlad the Impaler was not a nice guy. You don’t earn the nickname “The Impaler” because of all your charity work. But new research suggests that, as well as possibly crying tears of blood, the figure often thought to have inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula may have been vegetarian or vegan. Vlad, or Mr Impaler if you’d […]

Tricks to improve Wi-Fi signal can range from the sensible to the deranged (yes, aluminum hats do work – no, a Faraday cage won’t help). However, did you know that sometimes the problem can be not the router itself, but the objects you’ve placed it close to? Routers connect our devices to the Internet by […]

As much as they are a staple feature of modern pop culture, there is still much we do not know about the Northern European travelers who became known as the Vikings. In particular, until recently, scholars have struggled to identify a reason why a disparate bunch of Scandinavian farmers transformed into fierce raiders and extensive […]

The Great Wall of China warded off marauding nomadic tribes for centuries, but it wasn’t enough to stop these time-conscious builders. A small part of the Great Wall has been severely damaged by construction workers who were looking to make a shortcut through the monument.  Two people have been arrested for using machinery to create […]

We’ve all had that feeling: you wake up from an incredible dream, but as soon as you try to describe it to someone else the details start falling away, like sand running through your fingers, until you can’t remember it at all. Scientists have long been seeking ways to help dreamers communicate directly with the […]

Researchers exploring the deep ocean off the coast of Alaska recently stumbled upon a perplexing find while piloting a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). As part of the Seascape Alaska 5 expedition, they found a mysterious golden orb on the seabed, and nobody was quite sure what it was. Journeying thousands of meters below the surface […]