Deborah Bloomfield

Neanderthals have served as a reflection of our own humanity since they were first discovered in 1856. What we think we know about them has been shaped and moulded to fit our cultural trends, social norms and scientific standards. They have changed from diseased specimens to primitive sub-human lumbering cousins to advanced humans. We now […]

More good news, Crungus fans, for image generating artificial intelligence (AI) has produced another mystery: one system keeps on producing a slightly terrifying image of an unknown woman. According to the person who first made the discovery, the woman – who they have named “Loab” – is “persistent, and she haunts every image she touches”. […]

Artemis I will send a rocket without a crew on a monthlong journey around the Moon. The program aims to increase women’s participation in space exploration – 30% of its engineers are women. In addition, the Artemis I mission will carry two mannequins designed to study the effects of radiation on women’s bodies so that […]

In 2021, an expedition off the icy northern Greenland coast spotted what appeared to be a previously uncharted island. It was small and gravelly, and it was declared a contender for the title of the most northerly known land mass in the world. The discoverers named it Qeqertaq Avannarleq – Greenlandic for “the northern most […]

Pilot’s glory is an optical illusion that makes it appear like a plane’s shadow is being lit up by a rainbow-colored halo. It might look like an eerie sign of supernatural intervention, but there is some science behind it. Take a look at this footage (below) shared by Southwest Airlines last month. Filmed by a […]

Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of climate change is that the effects aren’t always linear. Higher temperatures inevitably mean more of the recently escalating droughts, floods, and fires. Sometimes, however, increased warmth can create a tipping point, from which a region, or the entire planet, cannot come back easily even if temperatures fell again. We’re […]

Human bodies are stalked by their own haze of chemical emissions that changes indoor air chemistry, as shown by a new study. While we might be totally unaware of this invisible companion, the researchers believe the “oxidation field” produced by our skin may have an impact on indoor air quality and even human health. It’s […]

A rare piece of papyrus – perhaps part of an ancient letter – has been returned to Israel after six decades in much colder climes. Lost for close to three millennia in total, the scrap somehow found its way to Montana – before a chance glimpse of a photograph led to its discovery and retrieval. […]

Two new rocky super-Earths can be added to the now long list of known exoplanets, worlds that orbit stars outside the Solar System. This finding is exciting for multiple reasons. They orbit an ultra-cool star, they are relatively close to Earth – about 100 light-years away – and one of them is in the habitable […]

The Winners of Bird Photographer of the Year 2022 have been announced and among them are some stunning specimens in all their plumed glory. Each year, the competition draws global attention as it tasks them with capturing aves in artful and unexpected ways to be in with a chance of winning a £5,000 (~$5,800) grand […]

It’s a weird time in the world of chess. When players aren’t getting their fingers snapped by chess robots, they’re offering to play naked to prove they didn’t win against a top chess player by cheating. On Sunday, 19-year-old Hans Niemann took on world champion Magnus Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup, and won using black […]

Renowned all over the world for their association with beautiful jewelry and their aphrodisiac connotations, oysters are synonymous with fine dining and expensive tastes. Now, a new species of pearl oyster has been described after samples were collected from the east coast of Phuket Island, Thailand.  The new species – Pinctada phuketensis sp. nov – […]

Fall is almost here, with the autumn equinox less than two weeks away, so it’s not hard to guess why September’s full Moon is called the Harvest Moon. It will peak tomorrow, September 10, at 5:59 am EDT precisely, but if you look up at the sky you’ll see it appear full until Sunday. Many […]

Drones have enabled us to zoom into the sky and get up-close and personal with some of Earth’s most spectacular, and sometimes perilous, natural events and landscapes. From weaving around active volcanos to zooming in on a polar bear town, or simply getting up high enough to really take in the view, they have brought […]

This week, we saw the stunning first-ever images of the Sun’s chromosphere, a link is found between living near oil refineries and risk of stroke, and we learn that the electric car actually predates Tesla – the man, not the company.  World’s Largest Solar Observatory Releases First Images Of Sun’s Atmosphere Advertisement The National Solar […]

The skeleton of a young woman once suspected of being a “vampire” has been unearthed by archaeologists in Poland. Her body was found within a 17th-century cemetery with an iron sickle placed across her neck and a triangle padlock on her big toe, apparently to ensure she couldn’t wreak havoc from beyond the grave.  The […]

For a while now, scientists have known that taking a stroll in the great outdoors can do wonders for your mental health. However, what they didn’t know is why – until now.  A new study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, has found that a 60-minute stroll in nature results in a reduction of stress-related markers within […]

The Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) device has been breaking records for sustained nuclear fusion for a while. And now, the device has shown that it can keep the extremely hot plasma going with less instability and with fewer impurities, two major hurdles in the construction of a commercial nuclear fusion power plant. The […]