Deborah Bloomfield

Archaeologists from the Indian Institute of Technology and the Geological Survey of India have recovered the remains of a new dinosaur that has never been seen in India before. The new fossil belongs to a species of dicraeosaurid sauropod – a long-necked “veggiesaurus” that lived in the area during the Middle Jurassic era. The fossil […]

One of the largest insects in the world is making a triumphant return to New Zealand. The wētāpunga, Deinacrida heteracantha, predates the dinosaurs but was nearly wiped out in 1840 following the introduction of new predators to their native islands. Now, a captive breeding program is returning them to New Zealand with hopes the species […]

A hoard of ancient plant DNA has been extracted from a nearly 3,000-year-old clay brick, revealing a time capsule of ancient flora in what is now northern Iraq. The authors adapted a technique that’s normally used in materials like bone, and now say that it could be applied to clay artifacts recovered from sites around […]

If you’re living in the US and have used Facebook in the past 16 years, you have just a few days to claim your share of $725 million. We are aware this sounds like a bad scam, but bear with us. In 2018, a class action lawsuit was launched against Facebook, accusing the company of […]

Crystals with the capacity to transform light directly into mechanical energy without using electricity as an interim stage could unleash a host of advances. For example, drones that run on laser beams could cut back on batteries, or do without them entirely, with the weight savings enabling extra capabilities. The idea of wireless transmission of […]

Grief has been observed in the animal kingdom in all manner of different species from primates that walk on land to the mammals that swim in the planet’s oceans. Now, for the first time, grief and nurturant behaviors have been observed in the Cuvier’s beaked whale, one of the most elusive whale species on Earth. […]

A team of researchers has put together the dream of anyone who has watched sci-fi or Airplane; a humanoid robot that can pilot airplanes. The robot, known as PIBOT, is designed to sit in existing cockpits and operate them manually, or robutually if you will. Usual autopilots installed on airplanes are software, lacking limbs to […]

India’s lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 is expected to land on the surface of the Moon on Wednesday this week. If it can do so successfully, it will be the first lander to safely arrive at the Moon’s south pole (RIP Lunar-25) – an area of increasing interest due to the detection of large amounts of ice […]

A monster search for Nessie the Loch Ness Monster will begin in the coming weeks, as the Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochit, Scotland, enlists the help of a global community of citizen scientists in the search of a “water beast”. The search party will include drone pilots and beady-eyed observers conducting a surface watch of […]

There is a new solar energy design on the block, and it is bio-inspired by nature. The design has taken inspiration from the structure of leaves, and it is more effective than some conventional technology. Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy converts sunshine into electricity. Previous PV cells are not that efficient, with 10-25 percent of solar […]

Keeping track of the world’s most northerly bear species is no easy feat especially when most traditional polar bear monitoring is done using aircraft that rely on sea ice to be able to land. With declining sea ice levels in areas of polar bear populations due to the climate crisis, scientists have found a new […]

Neptune’s clouds have almost disappeared, images from space and Earth confirm. The cause remains somewhat mysterious, but the timing suggests it has something to do with the strength of the current solar cycle. The announcement raises the priority of a project where NASA is calling on amateur astronomers to assist it with observations of Neptune […]

You may have missed it last week, but according to one conspiracy theorist, a rogue planet should have smashed into Earth on Friday, ending life as we know it. Mike Buckner announced the end of the world on Twitter, the apocalyptic soothsayers’ medium of choice. Buckner spent the week before Nibiru was meant to hit […]

A cargo ship fitted with giant sails has set out on its maiden voyage in a quest to see whether age-old technology has the potential to revolutionize this fuel-guzzling industry. It’s been dubbed as a “world first”, although we’re pretty sure we’ve seen wind-propelled sails boats before… The Pyxis Ocean ship, retrofitted with two 37.5-meter […]

Yutu-2 has been a busy rover. Carried by the Chang’E-4 lander to the far side of the Moon in January 2019, it has moved further across the lunar surface than any other rover, collecting a variety of measurements. Now, for the first time, it has peered underneath the lunar surface down to 300 meters (1,000 feet), […]

JWST has captured a pair of beautiful images showing the Ring Nebula, a dying star in the midst of a final flurry at the end of its stellar lifecycle. Also known as M57 and NGC 6720, the Ring Nebula is typical of a planetary nebula, an ejection of ionized gas emitted from red giant stars […]

There is apparently a widely held belief that facial masculinity can reliably indicate whether a man will be more or less involved as a parent. According to this view, men with more masculine features are regarded as “healthier” but potentially less likely to be involved as a parent, while men with feminine faces are likely […]

According to a new review, the recreational use of nitrous oxide can have serious and sometimes permanent neurological impacts. Although this drug is becoming increasingly popular, the findings are worrying. It is hoped the results of the survey will help doctors identify the signs of nitrous oxide toxicity.  Nitrous oxide (N2O), also known as laughing […]

Updated COVID vaccines will reportedly be available in the US next month amid rising numbers of the new variant “Eris”. However, some public health experts are not expecting this batch of vaccines to be taken up with the same gusto as in previous years. Also known as EG.5, Eris is a subvariant of Omicron. It […]