Deborah Bloomfield

Researchers have long known that brain tumors, specifically a type of tumor called a glioma, can affect a person’s cognitive and physical function. Patients with glioblastoma, the most fatal type of brain tumor in adults, experience an especially drastic decline in quality of life. Glioblastomas are thought to impair normal brain functions by compressing and […]

Sex has often defined the roles we assign to ancient humans when we look back in history, but a new study is challenging the idea that males were hunters while females were gatherers. Using data from a wide body of literature that investigated peoples and cultures of the past, it found that evidence from the […]

Lurking deep beneath the ice sheets of Antarctica, gravity-detecting satellites have rooted out the remnants of long-lost continents. Nope, it’s not quite Atlantis, but the discovery is shedding some much-needed light on the mysterious history of Antarctica. Researchers from Germany’s Kiel University and the British Antarctic Survey discovered the ancient continents in 2018 using gravity-mapping […]

When a hurricane hits land, the destruction can be visible for years or even decades. Less obvious, but also powerful, is the effect hurricanes have on the oceans. In a new study, we show through real-time measurements that hurricanes don’t just churn water at the surface. They can also push heat deep into the ocean […]

On June 23, 1993, the mathematician Andrew Wiles gave the last of three lectures detailing his solution to Fermat’s last theorem, a problem that had remained unsolved for three and a half centuries. Wiles’ announcement caused a sensation, both within the mathematical community and in the media. Beyond providing a satisfying resolution to a long-standing […]

There is a persistent belief among the supernaturally inclined that humans, along with other living beings and even some inanimate objects, give off colorful energy fields called auras. According to psychics and other esoteric advocates, these subtle emanations communicate all sorts of information about a person’s personality, emotional state (and sometimes history), as well as […]

Lake Karachay is the most radioactive lake on planet Earth. Its waters are so extremely irradiated, an hour of sunbathing on its shores would be enough to kill a human. The radiation-ridden lake is found in the southern Ural mountains of central Russia. Its name, Karachay, means “black water” or “black creek” in the local […]

Stress can have a catastrophic effect on the body and it can be hard to find ways to regain control when you’re in the midst of it, but what if something as simple as a cold glass of water could change that? Icy, even. It might sound absurd, but it all ties into the vagus […]

An intriguing new hypothesis suggests that electric fields generated by neurons in the brain could, in turn, be influencing its molecular infrastructure, allowing our brains to functionally adapt to the world around us. Bringing together evidence from their own and other labs, the authors present their theory as an explanation of how high-level thought processes […]

A plume of smoke and soot emanating from the ongoing wildfires in Canada has crossed the Atlantic and is now hovering over Western Europe. Images captured by NASA’s Terra satellite on Monday, June 26 show the enormous cloud of black carbon extending across more than 3,220 kilometers (2,000 miles) of ocean and invading the skies […]

In just a few months, the Royal Observatory Greenwich will crown the winners of Astronomy Photographer of the Year. To tease the momentous occasion, they have shared the shortlist selection from over 4,000 entries by amateurs and professional photographers hailing from 64 countries around the world. The competition is organized by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, […]

Researchers believe they have found the earliest evidence of human ancestors butchering and possibly eating each other, dating back around 1.45 million years. The bone of an ancient human species displayed chop marks that were incredibly similar to those created by stone tools, suggesting ancient populations were even more brutal than previously thought.  “The information […]

Ah, summertime! The occasion when many people want to lounge in the sun on Copacabana Beach, walk through the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, or perhaps explore the ancient ruins of Pompeii. Before rushing to buy your plane tickets, travel insurance, or your teeny tiny 100 milliliter (3.4 ounce) airport safe bottles, have you also […]

A Health Advisory has been launched by the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) following reports of locally acquired malaria cases in two US states within the last two months. So far, four cases within close geographic proximity have been identified in Florida, triggering increased surveillance for signs of further transmission. It marks the […]

Over the past few weeks, people have been surprised to learn that visiting the Titanic is something other (very wealthy) people do. 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 protected by the […]

Quell all thoughts of Hugh Jackman, we’re talking about the small furry animals. While these creatures were once common throughout their native California, now only the second sighting of one in 101 years has been recorded. Since the 1920s, it is thought that fur trapping and hunting has driven the species to near extinction within […]

Researchers have uncovered a unique 50-million-year-old specimen of an extinct katydid species with its muscles, digestive tract, glands, and even one testicle still intact. Marking a likely first-of-its-kind find, the detailed fossil has provided vital new information into the evolutionary history of katydids. Belonging to the genus Arethaea, also known as thread-legged katydids in reference […]

Any fan of modern monster movies will be familiar with megalodon, the megatooth shark, which once lurked among the waves. It was the largest marine predator that ever lived and the apex hunter of its day. Now, new research has shown that this prehistoric leviathan was also warm-blooded, which may help explain why it went […]

Physicists have discovered a new phase of matter that they are calling a chiral bose-liquid state. This is something far removed from the three classical states of matter, solid, liquid, and gas, and it only happens in extreme circumstances – and yet, it might have some interesting applications in technology. The chiral bose-liquid state comes […]

Through genius and brutal hard work, an international effort led by British code-breakers cracked the infamous Enigma code. Any communications that weren’t understood during the war were subsequently deciphered by scholars and internet users, except one. A single German Navy message has withstood all attempts to break it and, to this day, no one knows […]