Deborah Bloomfield

A sample of almost 8,000 MRI scans has revealed differences between men’s and women’s brains, but only in countries with high measures of gender inequality. In places with less discrimination, no statistically significant distinctions could be seen between brains, at least on this measure. Being on the receiving end of gender discrimination is associated with […]

The UK government will follow EU laws to allow the use of animal testing for cosmetics for the first time in 25 years. Despite wide condemnation from makeup brands and animal rights groups, a High Court ruling concluded that the government was acting legally and aligns with a similar change within the EU.  “We are […]

Stop us if you’ve heard this one: a genius from centuries gone by, forced to hide his heretical beliefs from his peers, instead buried his ideas in a complex code, hidden in plain sight until some future scholar could decipher the truth. Is it The Da Vinci Code? No. Isaac Newton’s weirdly extensive research on […]

What’s 3 meters (10 feet) long, has huge teeth, big eyes, and hunted prey in ancient Scottish swaps over 300 million years ago? The answer: an extremely ferocious-looking crocodile-like carnivore called Crassigyrinus scoticus. Now, a team of scientists have managed to digitally reconstruct this beastie’s skull, which not only yields new insights into what it […]

Scientists in China claim to have created a brain-computer interface that allows a monkey to control a robotic arm using its mind. Just like other incarnations of this type of technology, the researchers argue it could someday help people who have lost the use of their limbs.  The research, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, […]

Fomalhaut is the brightest star in the constellation of the Southern Fish and it is the second brightest in the sky when it comes to having a planetary system around it (after Pollux). But the Fomalhaut system is still a “work in progress” – it’s unsure if it has planets but what it certainly does […]

Those Transportation Security Administration requirements are drilled into every frequent flyer’s head: You can carry on liquids that are only less than 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) in volume each. But when the TSA recently confiscated a jar of Jif under this rule, peanut butter lovers were up in arms. Some skeptics of security may suspect […]

Artemis astronauts who will walk on the Moon will be exploring a new area of our natural satellite that has not been touched before: the lunar south pole. There, exist craters in permanent shadow that have huge implications for permanent settlement on the moon. They have plenty of ice water.  Given their darkness, it is […]

There are 24 factors that are important for compatibility in romantic relationships: that’s according to a new study, which also mapped those factors against different “love styles” to try to figure out what similarities are most important to loved-up couples. “Most studies in this area tend to focus on desirable features in a romantic or […]

The reason why continents mostly stand above sea level is believed to be that continental crust is lower in iron and more oxidized than oceanic crust. This makes continents more buoyant over the Earth’s mantle. The difference in composition is poorly understood, but a popular hypothesis suggested that garnet formation was key to this. Now, […]

Infection with certain bacteria from the Desulfovibrio genus triggers the formation of protein aggregates in nematode worms, a new study reveals. The findings bolster previous research showing Desulfovibrio abundance correlates with the severity of Parkinson’s symptoms. Not all Parkinson’s cases can be blamed on the bacteria, but the authors think the majority of people affected […]

Listening to a particular sound while we sleep could help to stem nightmares, research has suggested. It doesn’t have to be a special sort of sound, it can be literally anything – we just have to associate it with a positive daytime experience, and bingo, we may find ourselves sleeping more sweetly as a result. […]

When it comes to murdering things, assassin bugs don’t mess around. Famous for wearing the corpses of their victims as accessories, they’ve now been given an extra murderous accolade as research has found evidence for tool use in their hunting strategy. The research centered around an Australian group of assassin bugs, Gorareduvius sp., that are […]

The relationships between plants and their pollinators, typically insects, is well documented, especially given the effect of disease, climate change, and pesticides on the welfare of the creatures involved. However, researchers in Brazil have now discovered a new relationship between a plant and a very surprising creature. The Izecksohn’s Brazilian treefrog (Xenohyla truncata) has been […]

A chance rearrangement of the human genome over a million years ago probably kick-started the evolution of modern humans from our primate ancestors. A recent study explains why human DNA contains sections, many of which are involved in brain development, that are unique to us and are not shared with even our closest relatives, chimpanzees. […]

If you’re unhappy with the size of your nose then you now have someone to blame, as new research has revealed that certain genes responsible for increasing schnoz length can be traced back to our extinct Neanderthal cousins. According to the study authors, the ancient hominids may have evolved large noses to help them cope […]

This article first appeared in Issue 7 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS.  In science, we often stumble upon profound questions about what is real and what is perceived. Quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle is a fan favorite, for example. A more subtle question we might encounter is about naturally occurring patterns. From snowflakes […]

There has been a tenfold increase in sexual abuse imagery created with webcams and other recording devices worldwide since 2019, according to the Internet Watch Foundation. Social media sites and chatrooms are the most common methods used to facilitate contact with kids, and abuse occurs both online and offline. Increasingly, predators are using advances in […]

A new COVID variant XBB.1.16, or “Arcturus”, has now been identified in at least 34 countries including the UK. Arcturus is a subvariant of omicron and was first detected in India in January 2023. Advertisement As of April 17, the latest date up to which the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has reported data on […]

At one point in time, Homo sapiens – that is, the group of great apes that includes you and me, but not, say, a chimpanzee or an orangutan – was just one of many species in the genus. As recently as a couple hundred thousand years ago, a world tour of humanity would reveal not […]