Deborah Bloomfield

For the first time ever, the mitochondrial genome of a European woolly rhinoceros has been reconstructed. The now-extinct animals’ DNA was extracted from fossilized cave hyena poop found in Germany, revealing fresh insight into both species. The woolly rhino (Coelodonta antiquitatis) roamed Eurasia in the Pleistocene until its extinction around 10,000 years ago. Several specimens […]

The Moon formed in a catastrophic impact between the proto-Earth (Gaia) and a Mars-sized object we call Theia. The collision happened around 4.5 billion years ago but its effects are still with us. And not just on the Moon, but also in structures buried deep in the Earth’s mantle. The traditional scenario sees Gaia being […]

When it comes to starfish, scientists have finally answered Basement Jaxx’s most famous question – their head is all over their body, to the point where their body is essentially, well, a head. “It’s as if the sea star is completely missing a trunk, and is best described as just a head crawling along the […]

When our ancient Homo sapiens ancestors first left Africa for Eurasia some 60,000 years ago, they encountered and mated with some of the other human species that inhabited their new, colder home. Among these were the now-extinct Denisovans, who endowed modern humans with genes that might have helped us adapt to the cold while at […]

As science progresses we are constantly learning new things about the human body, from finding differences in voice prints between people who have diabetes and the general population, to noticing whole new organs inside the human head. Add to that list a new sense of touch, which we weren’t aware of before. Humans sense touch […]

For the first time, female chimpanzees have been seen surviving long after they have ceased to be able to reproduce – they had gone through menopause. Until recently, menopause was thought to be a uniquely human phenomenon, not seen even in our closest relatives. The discovery not only disproves that and raises the possibility menopause […]

In this universe, nothing lasts forever, but black holes are the objects that will try their darndest to stay alive the longest. Long after the last star has stopped shining and the last planet has turned to dust, black holes will still be there. But they are not immortal. Many black holes form in spectacular […]

In September, India became the fourth nation to successfully land on the surface of the Moon and reached the southernmost location yet. The Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover worked for a whole lunar day, providing some fantastic insights into the composition of the Moon, but something interesting was spotted from far above them too. […]

The taxonomical world of fruits, vegetables, and berries can get pretty confusing. Grapefruits and pumpkins, for example, are technically berries, while the humble strawberry isn’t a berry at all. In fact, it seems strawberries are full of surprises, or rather covered in them, because those seedy-looking white dots also aren’t seeds. The pitted accessories found across […]

Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) believe they have made an unusual and surprising discovery: Light appears to be capable of evaporating water without the involvement of heat. The team were interested in making desalination – removing salts and minerals from water by evaporating it and then cooling down the vapor into liquid once […]

If you’ve always wanted to save the world, but don’t have the right skills to invent a carbon-free energy source or antiviral drug, now might be your chance. Astronomers have created a system where almost anyone can help them spot near-Earth asteroids, and this month scored their first success. It’s a little surprising that in […]

The uncontrollable desire to consume human flesh is usually seen as a sign of insanity, yet the authors of a new study suggest that cannibalistic urges may in fact be triggered by a more nuanced set of factors than mere derangement. Highlighting the example of Wendigo psychosis among certain Native American communities, the researchers reveal […]

Wolves are famously pack animals, living and hunting together in family groups, they are famous for working together to take down prey items like caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and moose (Alces alces). Now, observations of wolves in Katmai National Park have shown they have developed a taste for a new kind of prey: marine mammals.  Scientists […]

Plants are not just able to survive in low gravity such as on the Moon, two new papers suggest – they may prefer it, at least based on the only species to sprout. When Chang’e 4 landed on the Moon in January 2019 it carried with it a payload that could dictate the future of […]

A new study has investigated what the team call “The Grandmother Hypothesis” when it comes to washing your skin, finding that people tend to miss several key areas, and their microbiome is less healthy as a result. Researchers from the George Washington University Computational Biology Institute wanted to investigate the skin microbiome – that is, […]

Issue 16 (November 2023) of CURIOUS is out now, bringing you science highlights for the month plus deep dives into intriguing topics, interviews, exclusives, diary dates, and explanations for some of Earth’s most perplexing natural phenomena and landscapes. In This Issue… Advertisement OUR COVER STORY: Does IQ Matter? Is it time to hang up the […]

Earlier this year, a study using satellite data found that New York City is sinking at the relatively fast rate of 1-2 millimeters per year across the city, with some urban areas sinking much faster than others.  According to the team, one contributing factor is the sheer weight of the city’s high-rise buildings. While concerning, […]

A pair of identical twins who were raised in separate countries have displayed unexpectedly large disparities in cognitive abilities while exhibiting highly similar personality traits. A comparison of the monozygotic sibling’s characteristics sheds new light on the age-old nature/nurture debate. Born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1974, the sisters became separated at the age of two when one […]

There is a widespread perception of old people having distinctive smells, expressed by less tactful children as, “grandpa smells funny”. Researchers decided to test if the scent was an intrinsic part of growing older, a product of the environment, or a trick of the mind. Although they found the smell is mostly an effect of […]

There are thought to be 7,000 living languages on our planet today. For fans of obscure facts, that means there are as many different ways of saying “Pass the cheese, please,” as there are species of lizard. But the scientists working on a recent study were far more interested in what we have in common […]