Deborah Bloomfield

English-speaking and bilingual Mexican Americans make a better recovery from strokes than their counterparts who speak Spanish alone, according to a new study. Whether the improved outcomes reflect changes language makes to the brain, or if other differences in the samples were responsible, remains uncertain. However, the findings raise the possibility that the way languages […]

On Friday, the eyes of the world’s science media were turned to South America for the launch of the European Space Agency’s hotly anticipated JUICE mission. Aiming to explore the icy moons of Jupiter and potentially discover if there was life present on these frozen worlds, the JUICE mission has been long awaited. However, this […]

The “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” mark some of the most impressive structural achievements of their time in the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. While just one of the seven structures remains standing today, these fascinating feats of engineering provide a glimpse into the complex cultures of some of these ancient communities. With an […]

If you’ve ever looked up from your phone while pumping gas at the gas station for long enough, you may have noticed a sign on or near the pump telling you to turn off said cell phone. So why is that? Is there an actual risk that comes from having your mobile on, or are […]

A Spanish mountain climber recently left a cave 70 meters (230 feet) underground where she spent the past 500 days isolated from the outside world. As she emerged, she seemed remarkably unfazed by her feat and simply asked who would be buying the celebratory round of beers. Beatriz Flamini, a 50-year-old from Madrid, reportedly left […]

Recent excavations at the Villa of the Quintilii uncovered the remains of a unique winery just outside Rome. The mid-third-century CE building located along the Via Appia Antica portrays a sense of opulence and performance almost never found at an ancient production site. Advertisement This exciting complex illustrates how elite Romans fused utilitarian function with […]

The Sun undergoes multiple cycles of activities that are tracked and then used to predict how such activity changes and the impact it might have on Earth. Modeling the Sun is far from easy and the main prediction is now being challenged by a different one: instead of a July 2025 maximum of activity, new […]

Group sex isn’t uncommon in the animal kingdom, but when you’re dealing with microscopic subjects, capturing it can be easier said than done. Fortunately, scientists like James Weiss who constantly monitor microscopic beasties are primed and ready to record the magic as it unfolds, including a three-way between some tardigrades. The rare and steamy footage […]

Well, it must be a day ending in a Y, because the US is currently losing its mind over safe and well-established medical procedures to end pregnancies.  Earlier this month, Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump-appointed federal judge in Amarillo, Texas, brought a drug called mifepristone storming into the headlines with a 67-page ruling to halt the […]

Marine species that normally live in coastal environments may be becoming a permanent fixture of the open ocean as a new type of habitat is becoming increasingly ubiquitous: floating islands of human trash. Perhaps one of the most famous of these islands is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where researchers recently discovered that coastal species […]

This Thursday a hybrid eclipse will occur over parts of Australia, East Timor, and occupied West Papua. Mostly, however, it will be over ocean. It’s the first hybrid eclipse since 2013. As always with solar eclipses, people over a much larger area, in this case Australia and South-East Asia, will experience the dimming of a […]

A superbloom has been looming over California for the past few weeks and now it’s here. Triggered by an onslaught of rain that may have been caused by atmospheric storms, the 2023 superbloom is set to be a historic one that’ll set the landscape ablaze with swathes of burnt-orange poppies as well as other wildflowers. […]

The biggest animal that has ever existed on Earth is alive today, and swimming around in the oceans. But most land mammals, impressive though an elephant may be, look like a tiny elephant shrew in comparison to the mighty Brachiosaurus. The bad news is, we are probably not going to see land mammals the size […]

Deep-sea researchers have found polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) – a human-made, carcinogenic pollutant – at one of the deepest points on planet Earth, the Atacama Trench in the Pacific Ocean. This is despite the chemical being widely banned in the 1970s, indicating just how long this potent environmental scourge can continue to linger. Environmental scientists at […]

A collection of artifacts oozing with color, culture, and sexuality has been discovered among the ruins of an ancient city found along Italy’s Almarli coast. Chief among those finds is a vibrant red figurine that depicts Eros, the Greek god of love and sex, riding a dolphin. The relics were unearthed at the site of […]

A distressing story has resurfaced on Reddit over the last few days, concerning a man who was swallowed up by a sinkhole in Florida on March 1, 2013.  Jeff Bush, 37, was asleep when a sinkhole opened up beneath his home in Seffner, Florida. The hole – about 6 meters (20 feet) across and deep, […]

While people tripping on DMT often lose all perception of time, the peak effects of the drug only last for about 10 to 20 minutes before subsiding completely in around half an hour. However, in a yet-to-be-published paper, researchers say they have managed to extend the acute phase of the DMT state to a full […]

Montana has become the first US state to pass legislation banning TikTok from nearly all devices. There are still some uncertainties about how the ban will actually work, but many suspect other states might be looking to roll out similar laws to prohibit the social media platform.  Montana’s House of Representatives voted in favor of […]

A gene that’s only expressed in the testicles of various mammals, including humans, could be the key to an effective, reversible, non-hormonal form of contraception for men. A new study details how manipulating the Arrdc5 gene in mice led to infertility in males, and scientists say that a drug targeting this gene could be a […]

Starship is finally ready to take the sky. The launch window opens at 7 am Central Time (12 pm UTC) and Elon Musk promises that while it might not be successful, it will be anything but boring. Starship is a huge project for SpaceX, quite literally. It is going to be the biggest rocket ever […]