Deborah Bloomfield

Lasers can act as virtual lightning rods, redirecting the direction in which bolts jump – although we’re a long way from being able to call down the wrath of science on unbelievers like a creature of myth. The Franklin lightning rod was a major scientific advance of its day, preventing millions of fires and electrocutions […]

We’ve all thought about sitting atop a floating cloud, but have you ever considered what might happen if a cloud sat on you? Don’t be fooled by these seemingly weightless collections of water molecules, enormous clouds actually carry an enormous amount of mass. Of course, for the same reason a person couldn’t sit on a […]

At the center of almost every galaxy lies a supermassive black hole. And if it is continuously feeding, it is known as an Active Galactic Nucleus, or AGN. AGNs are the most compact steady source of energy in the universe – and new research suggests that scientists have underestimated just how much energy is emitted […]

Dozens of headless skeletons were discovered at a prehistoric pit in Slovakia last year, leading archeologists to ask a simple question: what on Earth went on here? Now, researchers are starting to unveil the story behind this gruesome site – and things might not be as straightforward as they first appear.   In 2022, the […]

In a sobering reminder that we are all just sentient bags made up of lots of smaller bags, a video recently shared to Twitter demonstrates the medical emergency that gives rise to the “doughnut sign”. Intestinal intussusception is the culprit, a condition in which the intestine effectively folds in on itself that can lead to […]

More and more studies reveal that our brain is a pretty miraculous thing. Okay, well we’ve always known it was fundamentally miraculous, but the research suggests that in order to keep our brains fit and young, we need to give it some daily exercise. And, we’ve got the perfect solution in one perfect app.  With […]

Siberia is currently going through some dangerously cold weather. On Sunday, April 15, temperatures of -62.4°C (-80.32°F) were picked up in Tongulakh, a rural part of Sakha Republic, Russia. The temperatures were reported by Ventusky, a meteorological company based in Czechia. They explain that this is a “new all-time low” for the station at Tongulakh and […]

“We know more about the Moon than the deep sea.” This idea has been repeated for decades by scientists and science communicators, including Sir David Attenborough in the 2001 documentary series The Blue Planet. More recently, in Blue Planet II (2017) and other sources, the Moon is replaced with Mars. As deep-sea scientists, we investigated […]

This week, the UK’s first meteorite in 30 years is found carrying compounds essential for life on Earth, giving up alcohol can see some negative effects reversed in as little as 18 days, and we explore the curious reasons archaeologists refuse to open the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor. Advertisement Ancient Pompeii […]

Sea levels in Micronesia rose much faster over the past 5,000 years than previously thought, according to our new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This sea-level rise is shown by the accumulation of mangrove sediments on the islands of Pohnpei and Kosrae. The finding may change how we think about […]

On August 11, 1775, lookouts on the whaling vessel Herald spotted something strange in the waters off the coast of Greenland. A three-masted schooner, named the Octavius, seemingly sparkling with ice and snow, was drifting towards them – with no crew in sight. Accompanied by four of his men, the Herald’s captain, Warren, boarded the […]

The galaxy is filled with rocky planets a few times the mass of the Earth, (called super-Earths) and astronomers have been struggling to explain why. A new paper draws on modelling of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons to explain super-Earths’ abundance and a number of their curious features. However, in the process, it overturns work by […]

Achieving immortality is something that has driven human beings throughout much of their history. Many peculiar legends and fables have been told about the search for the elixirs of life. Medieval alchemists worked tirelessly to find the formula for the philosopher’s stone, which granted rejuvenating powers. Another well-known story is the travels of Juan Ponce […]

The inhabitants of the Movile Cave are like no others on planet Earth. After being cut off from the rest of the world some 5.5 million years ago, a unique ecosystem has sprung up here, despite the total lack of sunlight and toxic air that would prove too harsh for most terrestrial animals.  Located just […]

Some 6 meters (20 feet) below the water’s surface off the North Bimini coast in the Bahamas sits a surprising geological structure that looks remarkably like an ancient 457-meter-long (1,500 feet) cobbled road. Made of large angular blocks of beachrock measuring up to 4 meters (13 feet) in length each, Bimini Road, or Bimini Wall, […]

Drugs in development are no longer required to undergo animal testing before receiving US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. According to a new law, signed by President Joe Biden at the end of last year, the mandate that all drugs be tested on animals before progressing to human trials has been waived. “The FDA […]