Deborah Bloomfield

Ever cracked open an egg, only to find a mysterious red or brown spot? Whilst the sight might be a bit off-putting, eggs with these spots can be perfectly safe to eat, and there’s a solid explanation for their appearance too. Red and brown spots in eggs are usually either blood or meat spots. These […]

NASA has released an amusing new photo of some avocado-lookalike rocks, taken by its Mars rover Perseverance. Snapped on September 8, the photo features a pair of rocks resembling an avocado split in half – although frankly, it looks a little crunchy for most people’s tastes. In the background of the picture sits the half […]

In a monumental occasion for marine archaeology and world history, explorers aboard E/V Nautilus successfully completed the first deep-water visual dive to revisit the Second World War (WWII) Imperial Japanese Navy vessel, Akagi. Seen at a depth of 18,000 feet (5.5 kilometers) below the surface of the ocean, a Japanese and American-led expedition team conducted the […]

Researchers examining a collection of old and new fossils have recently discovered that an ancient species of bacteria, called Langiella scourfieldii, was among the first to colonize land, over 407 million years ago. L. scourfieldii are a species of cyanobacteria, which is part of the Hapalosiphonaceae family. These microorganisms grew among early land plants during the […]

An ocean drone coursing through the eyewall of Category 4 Hurricane Sam on September 30, 2021, has broken a Guinness World Record for reaching the highest wind speed ever recorded by an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV). Named Saildrone Explorer SD 1045, it was designed in collaboration with Saildrone and the United States National Oceanic and […]

As towns and cities grow and expand into previously rural areas, this brings into contact not only humans and wildlife but domestic pets and wildlife. While this can lead to issues such as the spread of disease, it can also have other unintended consequences. For the first time, researchers have documented a case of hybridization […]

Moist. For many people, it’s just another word. For some, it’s impossible to hear without recoiling in horror. You may not even be comfortable reading it, in which case we apologize for what’s to come. Word aversion is a real thing, and it extends much further than an adjective to describe something that’s slightly damp. […]

A new species of dinosaur called Vectidromeus insularis has been discovered on the Isle of Wight, the UK’s dinosaur island. It’s a big name for a critter that was adorably small – about the size of a chicken – but it also represents the second member of this dinosaur family to be found on the […]

Have you ever seen people wearing a white plastic disc on their arm and wondered what they are? Well, they are biosensors, and often they are continuously monitoring a person’s glucose levels. They are used by some people with diabetes, however, some people without diabetes are using them for metabolic health reasons. What is blood […]

Two important missions to the Sun have been launched in the last few years: NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and the European Space Agency (ESA) Solar Orbiter. The two are studying the Sun in different ways, and in June last year they demonstrated just how complementary they are, helping to close in on the solution to […]

Being stuck in a queue of traffic on your daily commute is one of life’s common frustrations. Traffic jams aren’t unique to the human experience though – even ants are prone to logjams, but new research suggests they’re pretty nifty at getting themselves out of the chaos. As masters of collective behavior, division of labor, […]

A new superglue alternative, derived from soy, could provide sustainable and biodegradable stickiness that rivals the less environmentally friendly products currently on the market. Traditional superglues and epoxies are generally made from fossil fuels, and as such take thousands of years to biodegrade. Their production also generates a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions – […]

Most exoplanets that have been discovered over the last few decades happened to go around stars that are roughly the same size as the Sun. Some are a bit bigger and many a lot smaller. Planets have been discovered around pulsars, the extreme end product of supernovae, so astronomers expect that planets are to be […]

Not many Neanderthals could say they would someday go on to find fame, but if there’s one member of this extinct species that could be considered world-renowned then it has to be the La Ferrassie Man, aka La Ferrassie-1 (LF1). This skeleton was discovered over a century ago and remains the most complete Neanderthal skull […]

DEEP, a UK-based engineering firm, has said it’s taking the first steps to making a “permanent human presence” under the oceans from 2027. As shown in their mock-up images, the company hopes to create futuristic modular habitats that will allow people to live underwater at depths of up to 200 meters (656 feet) for up […]

The existence of our universe is a little bit weird based on the known laws of physics. The problem is that matter – which makes up everything we see from galaxies to donkeys – has a twin called antimatter. It has the same mass but opposite electric charge, and when matter and antimatter interact they […]

You might already be aware that the name “strawberry” is a misnomer, as strawberries aren’t really berries at all. Well, it seems strawberries are full of surprises, or rather covered in them because those seedy-looking white dots aren’t actually seeds. The strawberries’ pitted accessories are called achenes, and they are in fact the plant’s fruit, with each […]

We’re all used to having to combat the various molds that appear in our homes during the winter months. At the time when our windows are closed and we’re trying to keep the house warm, we may find out homes have been invaded by some sporific little bugger. But summer can also see the proliferation […]

A new study of ancient whale bones suggests that medieval European hunters may have targeted two species of whale to the point of extinction in the eastern North Atlantic. Although whaling took place on an industrial level during the 19th and 20th centuries, the practice in general is thought to have been present in coastal communities […]

The 2023 Ig Nobel Prizes prove there is still plenty of room in science for the weird and amusing, even under the pressure of ever-tightening research budgets. Highlights include how having bored teachers affects the student experience, and how the mating behavior of very small fish changes water mixing in the world’s largest ocean. There’s […]