Deborah Bloomfield

Lawmakers in the US have announced a bipartisan bill to ban social media app TikTok. The legislation would block all transactions by social media companies based in, or considered under the influence of, countries deemed to be adversaries. If the bill gets through, any social media companies that are based in countries including China, Russia, […]

Christmas is a time that tries its best to lift the spirits in the bleak mid-winter. We can forget about the constant colds and the desperate dark weather to enjoy festivity, fun, and thoughtfulness. However, some cultures like to remember that this transitional time of year isn’t all jingle bells and mulled wine. Pull back […]

Who doesn’t love the holiday season? With its festive cheer, gifts and merrymaking, and frankly unnecessary amounts of drunken grandma farts, you’d have to be a real Scrooge to resist society’s grand tradition of going just a little bit bonkers for about a week at the end of each calendar year. But as objectively weird […]

Despite their immense size and their communal nature, giraffes aren’t known for being particularly talkative. In fact, they are pretty much silent most of the time. But these gentle giants do make the occasional vocalization, and it’s not what you would expect. Before we dive into the complexities of giraffe vocalization, it’s worth mentioning that […]

A study has taken a look at the real-life experiences of people using N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, more commonly referred to as DMT.  Study author Stephen Kagan explained that while more research was needed into dosing and the brain on DMT, closer study of the experiences of DMT is needed as growing movements push for legalization. Advertisement “People […]

What comes to mind when you hear the word “Christmas”? Turkey, twinkling lights, a jolly man in a red suit… and hairy, eight-legged arthropods? While many people run in terror from spidery visitors in their homes, what they may not know is how these critters gave rise to a festive tradition that has endured to […]

While some ancient civilizations left behind written histories or crumbling temples, all that remains of Peru’s long-lost Nazca culture are the epic geoglyphs that adorn the desert landscape they once inhabited. Back in 1994, when these so-called Nazca Lines were given UESCO World Heritage status, only 30 of the giant etchings had been identified, yet […]

The historic passing of a new law in New Zealand today will see anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, prevented from purchasing tobacco products for the entirety of their lives. With the aim of creating an entirely smoke-free generation, the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill is a world first […]

Evolution has a funny way of leaving the residue of past adaptations in strange places on animals’ bodies, and chestnuts on horses’ legs are a fine example. Nobody’s quite sure what horse chestnuts exactly are, but they’re believed to be a remnant left behind from horses’ five-toed ancestors. For a long time, it was believed […]

You might have seen a cool post on Reddit that appears to show the dramatic transformation of reindeer eyes from golden brown in the summer to White Walker blue in the winter. Unfortunately, this photo is fake as the vibrant blue eye is actually an edited version of a real image on Alamy. However, there […]

For the first time, a controlled fusion experiment has produced more energy than was put in. This is known as ignition, and it was achieved at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California. An experiment conducted on December 5 has reached that incredible threshold and milestone achievement in the quest to […]

Dust devils are a common feature seen in many locations across Mars by the robotic explorers we have sent there. They have been extensively photographed but now, for the first time, we also know what they sound like. Thanks to the SuperCam microphones onboard NASA’s Perseverance scientists were able to record a dust devil as […]

The clitoris of the snake has been identified for the first time, busting old myths about the equipment’s suggested role as a vestige of the penis or scent gland. The discovery fills gaps in our knowledge about the female genitalia of reptiles, which researchers say is comparatively poorly studied. “When you open up an anatomy […]

A “masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art” discovered in the ruins of a giant royal palace is so finely detailed it’s possible to pinpoint the bird species it depicts. The artwork can be found at Amarna, an archaeological site where the capital city of the late Eighteenth Dynasty once stood. It’s believed the city was built […]

It’s been a bumper year for things preserved in amber with snails, flowers, ants, and even a whole group of new insects bursting onto the scene. Now, a new cockroach species has been found encased in amber – and it’s even complete with sperm cells. The specimen has been named Supella dominicana as it is surrounded […]

After a troublesome day for Tesla on the stock markets, Elon Musk is no longer the world’s richest person. Tesla, of which Musk owns around 14 percent, saw prices drop by about 6.4 percent on Tuesday.  Since Musk sought to buy Twitter in April, shares of the company have halved in value, greatly decreasing his […]

Ancient inhabitants of the Basin of Mexico used it as a precise solar observatory in order to keep track of the time of year, a new study has concluded. Using the landscape as a calendar, the ancient people were able to plant crops at the correct time of year, and feed a large human population […]

On February 22, 2021 a fireball (bright meteor) streaked across the sky over Alberta, Canada, 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Edmonton. A network of cameras, established in the hope of finding where meteorites might land, tracked it. In this case no pieces reached the ground, but that didn’t stop the event having major scientific […]

Coyotes are troublesome for farmers and their livestock, but generally don’t pose much of a threat to humans – that is, until one tragic event in 2009 in which a pack of coyotes attacked and killed a 19-year-old hiker in Canada’s Cape Breton Highlands National Park. It marked the first time coyotes have ever killed […]