Deborah Bloomfield

A new study has re-examined the famous “Wow!” signal, finding that it likely has an extraterrestrial origin after all, and may have been even more intense than previously believed. On August 15, 1977, at the Big Ear radio telescope observatory at Ohio State University, a narrowband radio signal was received. A few days later, astronomer […]

Life in space is never boring, but it can certainly be a bit serious. Astronauts are there to work, but so far away from home, even leisure time can feel like it’s not really relaxing. Some of the astronauts take photographs, others play instruments. There’s Samantha Cristoforetti, who cosplayed in orbit, and Scott Kelly, who […]

The advent of refrigeration and freezing has meant we can now store food in our houses until we’re ready to eat it. Perishable items like prawns can sit snuggly in the dark of our freezer, waiting until it’s their time to shine – only, some of that seafood might already be glowing without you knowing. […]

On August 2, 2027, viewers in Europe, North Africa, and parts of the Middle East will view a total eclipse of the Sun, with totality lasting around 6 minutes and 23 seconds. That’s unusually long for a total solar eclipse. As well as being the longest total eclipse viewed on land since 1991, it will […]

Imagine this: you’ve had a long week at work and fancy a little treat. There’s that bottle of bubbly that’s been hanging around in the back of the cupboard since Christmas, but there’s a problem – you’re not planning on drinking it all in one go, but you’ve got nothing to seal it with. Then […]

We don’t know what alien life might be like. It could be wildly different from Earth’s own; if we’re looking at microorganisms, especially their fossilized traces, we might not even recognize it as life if it’s too dissimilar. But what if it’s not that different? Planet Earth has the only life that we know of, […]

When someone asks you to name a deadly species in the US, chances are your mind immediately races to that iconic Western movie villain, the rattlesnake. However, with fatal animal encounters on the rise across the country, researchers have now revealed which creature kills the most people, and it doesn’t hiss or rattle. The rest […]

For decades, humpback whales across the world have been seen performing a weird and unique trick. While underwater, the large animals start to spiral while blowing strings of bubbles, forming rings that float towards the surface. This is not an idle pastime, however, it’s a cunning strategy the whales have developed to catch their prey, […]

Hiking is nice and all, but wouldn’t it be better if it could be a bit more… opulent? Well, there’s one place in the world where a nice family day out can be combined with becoming richer than your wildest dreams – and it’s closer to home than you might think. At least, assuming you’re […]

In 2019, gravitational wave observatories across the world reported the merger of a black hole of 23 solar masses with a much smaller object, at the limit between the lightest black hole and the heaviest neutron star. New analysis suggests that the collision happened as the two were orbiting in the hot embrace of an […]

A new dinosaur has been discovered on the Isle of Wight, England, and it’s very fancy indeed. The dinosaur, a new iguanodontian, has a dramatic sail-like structure running along its back and tail, which researchers believe may have evolved as a way to impress potential mates. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. […]

The Earth’s Lagrange points are vital for the future of astronomy, possibly space exploration and some even say preventing a climate disaster. So what are they, how do they differ from each other, and how can they be used? Newton’s most famous insight involved the fact that the same force that could make an apple […]

This week, a 5-year-old child who lived 140,000 years ago is the earliest evidence of interbreeding between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, the first-ever recorded case of xanthism in nurse sharks has been seen in a bright orange individual spotted off the coast of Costa Rica, and 16,000-year-old paintings found deep inside a perilously inaccessible cave […]

Humans smell, there’s no denying it, but are some of those smells sending out chemical signals we aren’t consciously aware of? Are we, like ants, giving off pheromones?  The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content. We spoke to Dr Tristram Wyatt, Senior Research […]

If you can’t point to Tuvalu on a map, don’t worry – in a couple of generations, it won’t even be there anymore. That may sound cold, but it’s true: Tuvalu’s future is so jeopardized by climate change and rising sea levels that almost the entire country will likely be underwater during high tide within […]

The extent of sea level rise measured by satellites around the world is in line with what climate models predicted in the 1990s, a new study has confirmed. That’s bad news, because what those models anticipate in future is frightening, but at least it shows our understanding of the climate is good. People who want […]

Great white sharks in the Atlantic are creeping farther and farther up the east coast of North America. Once rare sights in New England and Atlantic Canada, these giant marine predators are now being spotted more often, much to the surprise of fishermen, surfers, and beachgoers. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. […]

Waking up this morning, you may have seen the news that the US has reported its first human case of travel-associated New World screwworm – and most likely, along with the words “flesh eating parasite”. Those are some scary sounding words, but what exactly is New World screwworm, and how concerned do we really need […]

In the heart of Australia’s scorching Red Center, some 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from the nearest city, lies a top-secret military communications base that few people know about – and even fewer have visited. Officially known as the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap – or just Pine Gap for short – the off-limits facility is […]

The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is one of the most recognizable animals out there, one of its most distinctive traits (besides its white head) being that powerful screech featured in TV shows, movies, and America memes alike… or at least, that’s what we’ve been led to believe. The rest of this article is behind a […]