Deborah Bloomfield

In February 2016, Yohannes Haile-Selassie and an international team of anthropologists found the near-complete skull of an early hominin in the dusty Godaya Valley of Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia. Reporting their findings in two papers (here and here) published in the journal Nature, the researchers show the skull dates back some 3.8 million years and belonged to an […]

Has someone ever sneezed beside you, and a few moments later you got hit with an unpleasant odor? Smelly sneezes can say a lot about a person and their health. The occasionally smelly sneeze is normal – however, some prolonged smells may be a concern for which people should head to their medical practitioner. Advertisement […]

The molecular basis for a mutation that causes some people with XY chromosomes to have wombs and vaginas has been identified, demonstrating how minor the differences can be that shape people’s sex. Swyer Syndrome (also known as 46, XY gonadal dysgenesis with female somatic phenotype) occurs in people whose sex chromosomes match most biological males, […]

It’s easy to think of Earth’s geomagnetic poles as features that are set in stone (or ice), but both poles are not stationary and remain in a permanent state of flux. Since it was first documented by scientists in the 1830s, the North Magnetic Pole has wandered some 2,250 kilometers (1,400 miles) across the upper stretches of […]

The latest issue of IFLScience’s free digital magazine 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. Join us as we put curious questions to top experts, share excerpts from the […]

It’s that time of year when gift giving is important and a joy, but finding the right gift can be difficult. If you’ve got kids or know someone who has kids, then you need to find a great gift that helps them improve brain function and have fun all at the same time. Sounds difficult, […]

Rice farmers living in Sidoarjo Regency, Indonesia, awoke to a strange sight on May 29, 2006. The ground had ruptured overnight and was spewing out steam. In the following weeks, water, boiling-hot mud and natural gas were added to the mixture. When the eruption intensified, mud started to spread over the fields. Alarmed residents evacuated, […]

About 76 percent of all non-visually impaired people experience something known as “floaters”. These appear as moving structures, like little worms, that sometimes appear in your field of vision if you are staring at something bright and uniform such as the sky, snow, or a white screen.  Their scientific name is Muscae volitantes, or “flying flies” – but they are not […]

Almost all of us, if we go back far enough in our family trees, come from somewhere else. Maybe it was your mom or dad; maybe it was a distant ancestor who lived more than twelve thousand years ago, but eventually, you’re going to find someone, at some point, who left their homeland in search […]

In 1963, two teenage boys decided to do a science project where they stayed awake as long as possible and ended up in the Guinness Book of Records.  Randy Gardner and Bruce McAllister first decided they wanted to study the effects of sleep deprivation on “paranormal ability”, before abandoning this idea due to fairly apparent practical problems, […]

A team of scientists has studied the noses and genitals of recently deceased corpses to determine if the “big nose big hose” hypothesis is true. It’s good news, large-nosed brethren, for the forensic scientists found that the larger the honker the, uh, larger your “down there” honker. The researchers looked at one hundred twenty-six male […]

Have you ever wondered why you don’t see great white sharks in an aquarium? It’s not the size surely, we keep orcas captive – so why not great whites?  One of the last attempts to put a great white into captivity was at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan last year. It died within just three […]

Asthma UK has provided a list of suggestions for how people can manage the festive season safely, particularly if they or loved ones have breathing difficulties. Although much of the advice, such as making sure not to run out of medications while stores are shut, looks obvious once provided, they also warn about a danger […]

On the rocky shores of Gibraltar, archaeologists have discovered a new chamber in a cave system that was a hangout of some of Europe’s last surviving Neanderthals. Among the markings and bones discovered in the newly found chamber, the team hopes to uncover more insights into the culture and customs of our mysterious sibling species.   […]

No one likes entertaining the idea of a divorce, so what’s the main driver of it? Researchers at Oxford University have dug into the numbers and stats filed by England and Wales since 1971, and they’ve come to a conclusion that is fairly unsurprising: most couples go their separate legal ways due to “unreasonable behavior”. […]

A set of projectile points found at Coopers Ferry, Idaho, have been dated to 15,800 years old –making them the oldest found anywhere in the Americas. Despite the passage of time, they remain razor-sharp, and many are even beautiful. The projectile points are not just 2,300 years older than the previous record holders found at […]

Dogs, we are told, are humanity’s best friend. They’ve been by our side for up to 30,000 years and counting, evolving from a few particularly dopey apex predators into the loyal companions of close to half of US households. But in some ways, this relationship presents something of a philosophical quandary. We don’t know what […]