Deborah Bloomfield

Saturn’s rings will be edge on to the Earth late this month, making them effectively impossible to see, at least with backyard equipment. However, it will be hard to witness it, because Saturn is now so close to being directly behind the Sun, even spotting the planet is challenging, and will get harder still through […]

One fateful day around 66 million years ago, a giant lump of rock came hurtling into Earth, bringing the era of the dinosaurs to an abrupt end. While there is debate over what ultimately delivered the final blow – was it volcanoes? Clouds of toxic sulfur? A dense interstellar cloud? – it is widely believed […]

There is a lot of concern and worry across the United States and beyond following several new decisions from the Trump administration. Trump’s cabinet has consistently attacked scientific and medical institutions since the inauguration less than two months ago, and its latest moves have placed the safety and health of Americans in even greater jeopardy. […]

If you look up at the Moon this Thursday through binoculars or a small telescope, you may be able to see an unusual feature; a giant “X” on the lunar surface. If you scan your eyes along the terminator line, you may also see a temporary “V” on the Moon, too. ADVERTISEMENT Every body orbiting […]

In 1819, the city of Padua, Italy, bore witness to a cursed phenomenon: polenta ran blood-red. It wasn’t the work of prophets turning water to wine, however, but an outbreak of bacteria Venetian pharmacist Bartolomeo Bizio named Serratia marcescens. ADVERTISEMENT Why am I telling you this? Because if you’ve got pink goo in your bathroom, […]

It’s been almost 2 million years since the first archaic humans ventured out of their African homeland. Exactly whose idea it was to set off on this world tour is difficult to say, yet Homo erectus is generally seen as the most likely candidate – although a new study may be about to challenge that […]

Could football players with a concussion one day be treated with a quick spray up their nose? That could be a possibility one day after a new study found that a monoclonal antibody-based nasal spray helped to promote recovery from traumatic brain injury (TBI) in mice. ADVERTISEMENT TBI occurs when the brain is damaged by […]

Higher intelligence is not only a way to increase survival rates, it could also improve reproductive success, at least among male mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki). The finding doesn’t prove the popular hypothesis that human intelligence is a product of needing to impress mates, but it does show something analogous may have occurred on a vastly smaller […]

Issue 32 (March 2025) of CURIOUS is out now, bringing you science highlights for the month plus deep dives into intriguing topics, interviews, exclusives, diary dates, and explanations for some of Earth’s most perplexing natural phenomena and landscapes. Read Issue 32 of our digital magazine now by clicking below! Use the arrows to navigate or […]

Watching dogs grow and get older is a bittersweet experience, but what if there was a way we could give our canine companions longer, healthier lives? Well, that reality just came one step closer, with an announcement from biotech company Loyal that its lifespan-extending drug for senior dogs has reached a key milestone towards Food […]

Researchers have developed a battery that effectively runs on nuclear waste, an idea reminiscent of Godzilla, the colossal monster that thrives on radiation. ADVERTISEMENT Nuclear energy is a contentious topic. On the one hand, it accounts for about 20 percent of the US’s electricity production and contributes very little to the country’s carbon emissions. On […]

Well, research suggests having a messy desk has its benefits – but so does a tidy one. While a Mary-Quando style approach to your working environment may indicate higher levels of generosity and conscientiousness, taking a more relaxed attitude to tidiness may result in higher levels of creativity and innovative thinking. At least, that was […]

Stone man disease is a very rare and very debilitating condition thought to affect approximately one in a million people in the US. As the name suggests, the disease causes the body’s soft tissue to harden, essentially trapping patients in a second skeleton.  What Is Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva? ADVERTISEMENT Also referred to as Münchmeyer disease […]

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, accounting for 9.7 million deaths in 2022. According to the National Cancer Institute, the disease will affect four in ten Americans over the course of their lifetimes. However, survival rates vary significantly depending on the type of cancer as well as a patient’s gender, race and geography. […]

We don’t get our sunlight from a B-type star, and they’re far from the most common type, yet when it comes to influencing the development of the universe, their role is crucial. They’re also particularly important to astronomers wishing to understand the structure of the galaxy and beyond. How we categorize stars ADVERTISEMENT Astronomers trying […]

In 1993, Stephen Spielberg shaped many minds (with the help of some creative special effects artists) when his film Jurassic Park brought dinosaurs to life like never before. There were many memorable moments: the torch in the eye, the shivering water in the giant footprint, a lawyer getting eaten on the toilet, but there perhaps […]

Scientists are “hypnotizing” sharks so they can collect their semen. Yes, you read that right, and although you might think there is something fishy about this, it’s an important step in their conservation, allowing the scientists to perform the first artificial insemination of a shark in Australia. So, a “happy ending” all round. ADVERTISEMENT The […]

This week, new research has found that rats are surprisingly good sommeliers and can distinguish between different types of wines, you can watch as two AIs realise they’re not talking to humans and instead switch to their own language, and we ask if anything had feathers before the dinosaurs. Finally, we discuss how NASA could […]

It’s 56 years since humans first walked on the Moon and 66 years since the first uncrewed mission to the rocky satellite, yet bizarrely, it actually takes longer to get there using modern methods than it did during the Apollo era. This is because spaceflight engineers have found new and ingenious ways to travel through […]