Deborah Bloomfield

Along with dubious VAR decisions and plugged-in balls, unsightly holes in socks have become a surprisingly common sight at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Fear not, it appears these ultra-well-paid athletes are not in desperate need of new socks for Christmas. The fashion faux pas is actually to help ease the constriction of […]

Parents in the UK have been told to keep an eye out for Strep A infections following the recent deaths of seven children. Here’s everything you need to know about this prolific bacteria, the diseases it can cause, such as scarlet fever, and their symptoms, and the ongoing outbreak in the UK.  What is Strep […]

JWST has seen intracluster light (ICL), the very faint emission produced by stars pulled out of their galaxies as these cosmic islands interact inside a cluster. Seeing this light has big implications not just for understanding the evolution of galaxies and galaxy clusters, but also for a mystery crucial to our whole understanding of the […]

“In 1987, I was involved with the renovation of an office space in Rochester, N.Y., to make provisions for approximately 200 telemarketers’ cubicles,” Vaughn Langless recalled to investigators for Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration News in 2003.   Part of the renovation involved installing new rooftop air-handling units, as well as heaters. All was well […]

Neuralink has released a new video showing a monkey typing using only its brain, which the company suggests will allow them to further their ambitions of implanting the chip into humans next year. The demonstration, which Neuralink claims shows “telepathic typing”, allows the monkey to interface with the computer via a chip implanted in its […]

Are you looking for the perfect gift idea? Do you have someone who needs to add a little nature into their home life? We’ve got a great gift idea, but first, did you know that having a house plant in your personal space can improve your mood, reduce fatigue and lower stress? It’s true! So, […]

The search for alien civilization is about to be expanded massively. The Breakthrough Listen initiative has announced a new collaboration with the MeerKAT observatory in South Africa to target over 1 million nearby stars in the search for technosignatures, the potential evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. With the inclusion of this incredible observatory, which is the […]

Jonathan the tortoise became the oldest tortoise in human record in 2022, being granted the accolade by the Guinness World Records (who recently named the world’s oldest cat) after turning 190. It’s been accepted that he hatched in 1832 based on photographic records, but it wasn’t until November of this year that he was finally […]

The possibility of sending astronauts to Mars has sparked research into some under-studied spaceflight problems, like what to do if an astronaut breaks a bone or suffers a blood clot. Patching someone up in microgravity is likely to be hard enough, but harder still is having the capacity to map what needs to be done. […]

Henry Ford once said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” So forget the facelift. Pass on the Botox. Put the derma fillers out of your mind. This Unlimited Lifetime Learning Subscription Bundle is your new fountain of youth! Well that, and perhaps some healthy […]

It turns out that SARS-CoV-2, the notorious virus that causes COVID-19, can survive on certain groceries for days at a time. Although you are still more likely to catch COVID-19 by being in contact with an infected person, the research suggests the risk of the virus is worth considering when picking up food for your […]

A medication primarily prescribed for heart problems has shown promise as a treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Combining data from animal experiments with observations in humans, the authors of a new study found that the drug spironolactone reduces drinking in multiple species, with the greatest effects seen in alcohol-dependent individuals. Inspiration for the study […]

The amount of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere makes it a habitable planet. Twenty-one per cent of the atmosphere consists of this life-giving element. But in the deep past — as far back as the Neoarchean era 2.8 to 2.5 billion years ago — this oxygen was almost absent. Advertisement So, how did Earth’s atmosphere […]

Rather than trying to filter microplastics from wastewater, a team at Australia’s RMIT University are hoping to capture them using an absorbent powder. On its own this might leave us with nothing more than slightly larger particles to filter out. However, the authors have changed the game by making the powder magnetic. Just how damaging […]

Orion is one of the best known constellations in the night sky. Its size and the brightness of its stars make it hard to miss, and its visibility throughout different months of the year have made it a celestial timekeeper for many civilizations. Part of the charm of this constellation is its snatched waist, made […]

A new study in China has found that smokers are at increased risk of 56 different diseases. As you might expect, several types of cancer made the list; but, there were also diseases affecting numerous other body systems, from the brain to the liver and pancreas, and even the eyes. Tobacco smoking continues to pose […]