Deborah Bloomfield

An ornate gold pendant and chain uncovered by metal detectorists in Warwickshire, UK, in 2019 has now been unveiled by the British Museum. The heart-shaped piece is embellished with red and white floral designs appearing to depict the union between King Henry VIII and his first wife Katherine of Aragon. Measuring roughly 5 centimeters (2 […]

An archaeological investigation of a well-known shipwreck off the cost of Sweden has revealed a glimpse into life in the royal courts of 15th century Scandinavia, with the discovery of more than 3,000 plant specimens on board – including such exotic and exclusive spices as saffron, ginger, cloves, peppercorns, and almonds. The sinking of Gribshunden […]

The remains of an elite Maya female with an arrowhead lodged in her shoulder blade provide speculative evidence that high-ranking women participated in pre-Columbian warfare. After analyzing the strength of the ancient corpse’s upper arm, the authors of an as yet un-peer-reviewed study suggest that she may have been a proficient archer, with skills matching […]

A Swedish mining company has announced the discovery of the largest rare earth oxides deposit in Europe, with 1 million tonnes of metal found beneath the ground in north Sweden. The state-owned company, LKAB, is in luck as the deposit is very close to its Kiruna iron mine, which is the largest of its kind. […]

Only seven symptoms can be specifically linked to long COVID, according to the results of new study in over 50,000 patients. The researchers were surprised by the finding, given the massive number of potential long COVID symptoms that have previously been recorded in the literature. “Despite an overwhelming number of long COVID symptoms previously reported […]

Here are a few problems which probably won’t affect you unless you work at NASA: hydrogen burns with a very pale blue flame that is almost invisible in daylight, hydrogen is highly flammable, and hydrogen tends to leak through the tiniest of cracks. “That makes it a hazard, as the element is highly flammable, to […]

An advert for mobile phones recorded in the 1940s has recently been unearthed by Open Culture. It shows a working mobile phone, long before the iPhone or the 80s Wall Street guy brick. The advert begins by attempting to explain the benefits of being able to communicate while on the move. Advertisement “Here comes a […]

This article first appeared in Issue 2 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS.  There are few simple questions out there that can shake the foundations of science like “when does a theory become a fact?” A scientist like Stephen Hawking will tell you that it never does, that all scientific theories are just observations of […]

There’s no reasonable way to say this without sounding like a conspiracy theorist, but if you turn over a lot of bollards in London, UK, you will find that a surprising number of them are cannons. Granted, any number of cannons above zero is a surprising number of cannons to find embedded in the sidewalk, […]

Scientists respond to handwringing about our failure to find evidence for life beyond the Solar System by pointing out how limited our searches so far have been. Even if our instruments have picked up a signal, however, we may have overlooked it using decades-old algorithms to comb the data. That idea has become more plausible […]

Shark fans, look away: it seems some of us may have been unknowingly eating some of the oceans’ most remarkable and endangered apex predators. A new study used DNA barcoding to analyze the contents of “flake” –  an umbrella term used for fish fillets – sold across South Australia, and found that much of the […]

On Halloween day 1941, the 14-year long effort to carve 18-meter (60-foot) tall faces into the side of Mount Rushmore was finally completed. Forming the iconic Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, the structure displays the profiles of US presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. But did you know behind […]

Near Laguna, Brazil, bottlenose dolphins have formed a rare alliance thought to have lasted 140 years with humans using hand-thrown fishnets. A study confirms that the collaboration benefits both mammal partners, but outside forces are destroying the conditions that make it possible. Large schools of mullet (Mugil liza) migrate along the east coast of South […]

In sad news for fans of urban folklore, Bigfoot could actually be several hundred black bears, a new analysis suggests. It seems people across North America may have been mistaking the American black bear (Ursus americanus) for everyone’s favorite giant hairy ape-like creature all these years. The analysis, poetically titled “If it’s there, could it […]

A new study has highlighted just how much people may not know their own IQ, finding the largest disparities in young men and older women. Looking at both intelligence quotient (IQ) and emotional quotient (EQ), the results showed that younger males think their scores are significantly higher than they actually are; but, as we age, […]

Everybody loves a harebrained get-rich-quick scheme, but if there’s one that has to top the “Absolutely Not” charts it’s surely necropants. The pants, also known in legend as nábrækur or nábrók, were rumored to bring the wearer of a pair of human-leg-skin trousers riches, but only if you followed a strict set of instructions. The […]

People are exposed to numerous chemicals throughout their lifetimes. These chemicals can be from the air, foods, personal care items, household products and medications. Unfortunately, exposure to certain chemicals can cause harmful health effects, including cancer. Substances that cause cancer are called carcinogens. Familiar examples include tobacco smoke, radon, asbestos and diesel engine exhaust. To […]

In 1897, mining engineer and archaeologist Jacques de Morgan made a map of several catacombs at Anubis, North Saqqara, Egypt. On this map was the first modern reference to a Tomb de Chiens, or tomb of the dogs. The name was somewhat of an understatement, for when the catacombs were investigated later in 2015, it […]

The sclera isn’t something you tend to think of when imagining animals, but looking at a photo of a chimpanzee with white eyes you might get the feeling that something’s slightly off. This is because most primates have a dark sclera, which in human eyes is the white that surrounds the iris and pupil.  The […]