Deborah Bloomfield

Brasilodon quadrangularis now takes the title of the world’s oldest (known) mammal species, thanks to investigations into its fossilized teeth. Confirmation of its mammalian status, and its emergence around 225.42 million years ago, put it 20 million years ahead of the runner-up mammal, Morganucodon. The teeth of the extinct and ancient shrew-like animal prove it […]

Could you survive on a remote, deserted island, 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles ) from any large body of land in either direction? In all likelihood, the answer is no – but one group of sailors were forced to make one of the world’s most remote islands their home after a mutiny, and their descendants live […]

This summer, a citizen scientist released a few images of Jupiter that look just like what our eyes would see if we were flying over the planet. And they are magnificent. Wider images show the creams, browns, whites and reds of the Jovian atmosphere, but in these images is a region that is less colorful, […]

Like many people, I have recently become fascinated the lives and loves of the ruling classes of the people of Westeros, where the occasionally charming inhabitants spend a lot of time bickering about who is in charge. Game of Thrones is very entertaining – but don’t get attached to any of the characters, as the […]

The Thwaites glacier in Antarctica – known as the “doomsday glacier” because of its high risk of collapse – is “holding on today by its fingernails,” according to a new survey.  Marine geophysicists have recently carried out the first-ever high-resolution mapping of the seafloor in front of the Thwaites glacier, a chunk of ice on […]

The axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is an aquatic salamander renowned for its ability to regenerate its spinal cord, heart and limbs. These amphibians also readily make new neurons throughout their lives. In 1964, researchers observed that adult axolotls could regenerate parts of their brains, even if a large section was completely removed. But one study found […]

BBC’s Frozen Planet II will soon make some of Earth’s frostiest and most remote regions accessible from your living room. The series returns with narrator Sir David Attenborough, who has worked closely with the BBC’s Natural History Unit to bring some of the most eye-opening moments in wildlife filmmaking history to our television screens (remember […]

The Internet can be a pretty negative space sometimes but every now and then a person rises above the negativity to deliver nuggets of joy that can make the digital space all that more bearable. Want to know how we’ve been distracting ourselves from the news of late? With animals being interviewed with a tiny […]

A Russian taxi company that manages more than 700,000 drivers across Russia was hacked last week, causing a huge number of cabs in Moscow to be routed to the exact same location. When the taxis arrived, there were no passengers waiting there, just blocked streets and utter chaos from the angry drivers and police attempting […]

BBC’s Frozen Planet II will soon make some of Earth’s frostiest and most remote regions accessible from your living room. The series returns with narrator Sir David Attenborough, who has worked closely with the BBC’s Natural History Unit to bring some of the most eye-opening moments in wildlife filmmaking history to our television screens (remember […]

There are some things in the world that feel like they’ve been around forever – but when you actually dig down into it, you find they’re barely old enough to vote. Take airport security, for example. Today, a TSA patdown and a full-body scanner seems not just normal, but necessary before a flight. Ask anyone […]

A human has won first place at an art competition at the Colorado State Fair, using an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated image. Jason Allen – who goes by the username Sincarnate on Discord – announced on the Midjourney channel that he had won the Colorado State Fair fine arts competition, in the digital arts category.  “After […]

Diamonds gain their value from how rare they are on the surface of Earth. Just last week we learned there may be a “diamond factory” beneath our feet produced where Earth’s core meets the mantle, while diamonds in the sky turn out to be very real. From a more universal perspective, however, it looks increasingly […]

NASA is about to slam a spaceship into an asteroid about the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza in an attempt to alter its course. The project, part of NASA’s Planetary Defense remit, aims to test whether the method could be used in the event of an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. […]

Above and below the plane of the Milky Way lie the Fermi Bubbles, two orbs around 25,000 light-years across filled with hot gas and cosmic rays. They are a major source of gamma rays, too. Within them, there is a bright spot, the Fermi Cocoon, a mysterious feature with no clear source – until now. […]

Artemis I has been postponed again due to another unexpected problem. A liquid hydrogen leak developed while loading the fuel in the core stage of NASA’s mega Moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), on Saturday. Third time’s a charm? NASA has already ruled out another “early September” launch attempt, so we may be looking […]

A recent Tweet spreading the testicular origins of the word “avocado” garnered some attention this week, and naturally, our eyes lit up. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a novelty etymology story? Unfortunately, it seems this particular factoid is flawed. In 2016, the debunking extraordinaires over at Snopes tackled the issue from a different angle in […]

Hugo Deans was just 8 years old when he noticed what he thought were seeds around an ants’ nest. Other children might have made such an observation and had nothing come of it, but Hugo’s father Andrew is a professor of entomology at Penn State University and realized Hugo had spotted something important. Further investigation […]

A piece of advice for how to deal with tinnitus has been widely shared on Twitter and Reddit over the past few days, with many claiming that it helped them (temporarily, at least) make the ringing noise go away. “Put your palms on your ears and thump the soft spot in the back of your […]