Deborah Bloomfield

Biologists spend a lot of time trying to prove an animals’ presence and abundance, but according to a new study the evidence is often easily obtainable in a place no one thought to look. Thousands of air quality monitoring stations are collecting particulates around the world, and these often come with DNA attached. A study […]

The four gravitational wave observatories that are working around the world have so far discovered these particular signals only from binary systems: the collisions of two extremely dense objects, such as neutron stars, or black holes. But singular bodies also emit gravitational waves, and now researchers think that one particular class of objects has waves […]

In the 1990s, Romanian-Australian economist Stefan Mandel and his small team entered the lottery and won. Over and over and over again. The feat, of course, wasn’t achieved through having a really lucky set of numbers. Mandel had a system, which he first put to use to win a lottery in Romania, using the money to […]

In the last few years, there has been a growing trend in chowing down on some chia seeds – normally in ice-cold smoothies or, for the fancy, on top of creamy yogurt parfaits. On some health sites, it recommends that you pre-soak the seeds before consuming them, but, unfortunately for one person, they did not […]

A giant cemetery complex that shows signs of human activity for thousands of years has been unearthed near Salisbury in England, home to the World Heritage Site of Stonehenge. The newly found burial site is thousands of years younger than Stonehenge, but it goes to show how this area of Salisbury Plain once held huge […]

Your chances of being attacked by a shark are nearly zero, according to an interactive map that shows where, when, and under what conditions shark attacks are occurring globally. When you look at the data, there are 100 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide annually, but each year humans kill around 100 million sharks. When it comes […]

Over the last few decades and especially in recent years, peculiar filaments have been discovered stretching vertically near the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*. They extend for 150 light-years and they are so thin they look one-dimensional. Now, a new population has been found: they are shorter and lie horizontally, pointing directly to […]

A test that can quickly identify so-called “zombie” cells in potential donor hearts could mean more of these much-needed organs being available for transplantation. Currently, in the UK, hearts from over-65s are not accepted due to the likelihood of a poor outcome for the transplant recipient, but in some cases this cautious approach could be […]

The art of cocktail making has come a long way since the ancient Egyptians tried their hand at mixing drinks, as evidenced by a new analysis of the contents of a 2,000-year-old vase. Thought to have been imbibed by members of a cult who worshiped a strange cat-like god, the concoction was found to contain […]

It’s impossible to imagine today’s world – and the future – without steel. From the cars we drive to the buildings we live and work in, this invaluable alloy is everywhere. Unfortunately, however, traditional methods of steel manufacturing and recycling come with a heavy carbon footprint. With the climate crisis ever-heating up and calls for […]

This article first appeared in Issue 8 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS.  We’ve all seen lie detector tests, be it in cop movies, crime procedurals, or The Simpsons. Generally speaking, the “bad guy” is hooked up to the polygraph test and informed that if they lie, the people conducting the test will know. A few questions later and the […]

The Hranice Abyss in the Czech Republic is the deepest known freshwater cave on the planet. It’s suggested that it could extend to a depth of 1 kilometer (0.6 miles), but scientists have never actually got the bottom of have deep it truly is.  Back in 2016, a remotely operated vehicle swam into the bowels […]

Fourth of July parties, Guy Fawkes night, and New Year’s eve celebrations have all become associated with the bang and sparkle of dazzling firework displays. But where did the idea come from, and how did they become so popular? According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, historians believe fireworks originated in the second century BCE in […]

Ever seen something so impossibly cute – a teeny kitten or a baby Tasmanian devil, perhaps – and feel the urge to squeeze, smush, or bite its adorable little face? Don’t worry, you’re not a psychopath and you’re not alone – it’s a thing and it’s called cute aggression. Delve into the psychology behind the […]

People who score highly on intelligence tests answer simple questions more quickly than their less intelligent counterparts. However, when the problems get more challenging, the situation reverses, at least for a certain type of question. Faced with these, intelligent people take their time but are much more likely to get the answer right. The findings […]

Black holes are not eternal. Extremely slowly, they lose mass and energy in the form of thermal radiation – heat. This is known as Hawking radiation, and over incredible time frames would lead to black holes evaporating, eventually disappearing. A new theoretical paper suggests that this is true for more than just black holes: that […]

A team of researchers and volunteers at the Florida Museum of Natural History have discovered an ancient “elephant graveyard” containing the fossilized remains of a long-extinct ancestor to our modern-day pachyderms. The find may also provide the largest known specimen of the animal ever discovered in Florida.  Sometimes around 5.5 million years ago, a number […]

Travel to any part of the world and it’s hard not to find dragons lurking in their mythological folklore. The ancient legends of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas all feature the figure of a slinky crocodile-like creature with long talons and a fierce look in its eyes. The question is: why have a significant […]

A protein produced by certain bacteria can not only extract the elements neodymium and dysprosium from the ore in which they are found, but separate them from each other. With demand for these metals growing exponentially, thanks to their role in wind turbines and electric vehicles adding to existing demand from smartphones, the discovery could […]

In the Ancient Greek world, there were four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Not only did the model have the benefit of describing everything in the known universe, but it was also beautifully symmetrical: Air, being hot and wet, was the opposite of cold dry Earth, while Water, with its cold, wet properties, perfectly […]