Deborah Bloomfield

In April 2019, astronomers revealed one of humanity’s greatest achievements in science – the first-ever image of a black hole. (Of course, the photo wasn’t directly of the black hole itself, that would be impossible. More on that later.) Now, thanks to a new machine-learning technique that has sharpened the image, a new version has […]

As hackers go it doesn’t get much more insidious than Sacculina carcini, the parasitic barnacle. In its adult form it’s barely recognizable as a barnacle, spending its life protruding from the underside of the crustaceans that unwillingly host it.  It’s a bit of a bum deal for the host, as once the crab hacker barnacle […]

The human body contains 78 organs – at least, that’s the most widely accepted figure – but we know that not all of them are absolutely necessary. Take the appendix: many have asked what it’s even for, particularly when some studies have suggested you may be better off without it. So, we asked ourselves, what’s […]

The animal kingdom is full of species with the muscle power to make rapid movements. Some species have even evolved latch-mediated spring-actuated (LaMSA) mechanisms that help them move even faster, letting them catch prey, jump higher, and close their jaws faster than ever. These types of LaMSA actions are usually found in invertebrates but now […]

The oldest bat skeleton found to date has been retrieved from Wyoming, US, and is a shiny new-to-science species to boot. Chipped away from the early Eocene Lagerstätte of the Green River Formation in the American Fossil Quarry northwest of Kemmerer, it’s believed to date back a staggering 52 million years. The fossil lake deposits […]

In an apparently spontaneous live interview with the BBC on Twitter Spaces yesterday, Elon Musk has spoken about his chaotic takeover of Twitter, revealing all kinds of insights about running the social media platform (like the fact he sleeps on a couch in the office and his dog is the CEO) and his decision to […]

A new chapter of the Bible has been found, hidden inside a 1,750-year-old translation from the Gospel of Matthew. The chapter was found by medievalist Grigory Kessel, who used ultraviolet photography on manuscripts in the Vatican Library. The hidden text was found as part of the Sinai Palimpsests Project, where researchers aim to recover texts […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the first human death from H3N8 avian flu in China. It has been circulating the area since 2002 and regularly infects birds, horses, and dogs, but rarely infects humans.   Just two human cases have been recorded, in April and May of last year, with both being non-fatal […]

Titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs, including Patagotitan, roamed around during the Cretaceous period in pretty much every corner of the world. Despite their global distribution and abundance, only a few species have been well preserved with more than one specimen found in the fossil record, and even fewer have been found with skull fragments. One species, Diamantinasaurus […]

An outbreak of a rare fungal disease has hit workers at a paper mill in Escanaba, Michigan. Along with 19 confirmed cases, health authorities saw that at least 74 people have a “probable case” after displaying symptoms of the disease earlier this year. Public Health Delta & Menominee Counties (PHDM) were first notified about “atypical […]

When you are bitten by a snake, it is easy to panic and do something inadvisable. Take for example, the man who cut off his finger following a snake bite only to be told that it was “not necessary at all” as the snake in question was “not that toxic“. But no matter how panicky […]

The Denisova Cave is the site of one of the most important crossroads in the history of humans. Not only does the cave contain evidence of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, but for several years it was the only place where remains were found of our lesser-known cousins: the Denisovans. The cave even features remains of […]

In 1996 on the way to visit his girlfriend, photographer Charles “Chuck” O’Rear stumbled upon Bliss. Stopping off amidst California hills, he noted that the lighting after a storm was doing good things for the landscape. The image he snapped would become what’s thought to be the most viewed image in the world, and if […]

B cell-producing organoids have been used to screen vaccine candidates against tularemia, also known as “rabbit fever”. The work is a step towards replacing animals for vaccine testing prior to clinical trials. Besides the many bad reasons for vaccine refusal, a few have merit. Most notably, strict vegans may be reluctant to take anything that […]

We’ve all heard of death by chocolate, but how would you feel about dying from too much soy sauce? It may sound like a bizarre fate – but in fact, it’s not just possible, but surprisingly easy. When it comes to versatile foods, there’s not much that can come close to the humble soybean. Without […]

This week, Dr Makenzie Lystrup made history as the first female director of NASA’s Goddard Flight Center. Not content with just one first, Lystrup also made history as the first person to take their oath of office on a Carl Sagan book. From one stargazer to another, Dr Lystrup was sworn in as the new […]

It’s hard to find a human culture that doesn’t enjoy scrawling and carving into the environment around them – and the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula are no different. Found along Qatar’s northeastern coast, Al Jassasiya is a dozen different rock-carving sites that feature hundreds upon hundreds of carvings. Al Jassasiya was first formally discovered […]

When lightning blasted a tree in New Port Richey, Florida, in 2012, the owners of the property decided to make lemonade from the lemons. They sold the 500-gram (1.1-pound) piece of fused rock and soil that formed nearby. Although they saw the commercial value, they didn’t expect to be dealing with a scientific goldmine. Fortunately, […]

Our Changing Planet has returned for a second year as presenters Liz Bonnin, Chris Packham, Steve Backshall, Gordon Buchanan, Ade Adepitan, and Ella Al-Shamahi venture across the globe to uncover the ecological issues threatening the planet. The BBC documentary series aims to track the rewards of efforts made by scientists, local conservationists, and people fighting […]

Black widow bites are among the most feared of arachnid interactions, and with good reason. At 15 times the potency of rattlesnake venom, it’s nasty stuff, but most black widows will keep hold of their precious unless they feel threatened. That said, a human hand probing inside a dark hole in which a spider is […]