Deborah Bloomfield

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a wretched experience for everyone, and while the greatest overt threats to public health are posed by the virus itself, new research has revealed the impact that lockdown living has had on the brains of adolescents. Compared to teenagers whose brains were scanned before the pandemic, those who were assessed […]

Orion has spent almost three weeks in space, exceeding the expectations of the Artemis I mission. The uncrewed capsule was sent on its first voyage beyond Earth to test its capabilities, to make sure that when people are on board everything will go as smoothly as possible. The mission has also been taking images, and […]

On Tuesday, December 6, at 7:56 pm UTC, most of the world’s population will look up and see a sky that is completely dark. Let’s explain. We (well, unless you happen to be a flat-Earther who believes the sun rotates around above our heads like a tennis ball on the end of a Swingball rope) […]

New research has finally pinned down an physiological change that explains why we are so much more prone to certain respiratory infections when the weather is lousy. The discovery is the first biological mechanism to explain why the common cold, flu and COVID-19 see such significant seasonal spikes when the weather is colder in certain […]

Earlier this year a team from sleep website Mornings.co.uk conducted an analysis on Google search data, to see what the most commonly-searched dreams were in each country.  Though largely missed at the time, the breakdown reveals a few interesting insights into dreams around the world and provides a bit of reassurance to anyone who thinks […]

For a management team trying to lead a company, keeping all those employees happy can often feel impossible. No matter what you do to improve the workplace for most people, it will likely still be met with a “yeah, but” from some. However, the facts show that the feelings of most workers are fairly straightforward.  […]

A study presented at the Radiological Society of North America conference has found signs of liver injury in patients, months after going through a COVID-19 infection. The study adds to evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infecting and damaging the organ. The retrospective study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, looked at patient data going back three years, […]

That suicide rates spike during the holiday season is something that you’ve probably heard either in the news or during conversation, but new research is exploring how this myth has endured for so long despite data not supporting the claim.  In 2021, provisional data showed rates of suicide increased during the festive holiday months in […]

If you’ve been out at night recently you’ve probably noticed a very bright reddish object in the sky, visible even from cities suffering from bad light pollution. This week Mars is closer to Earth than it will be for another 11 years, making it hard to miss in the night sky. If you’re in Western […]

Cannabis use among US adolescents increased by 245 percent between 2000 and 2020, with edible weed gaining in popularity at a higher rate than any other mode of consumption. At the same time, alcohol use has plummeted, allowing cannabis to overtake booze as the most abused substance by young people in the US. Researchers analyzed […]

A rare symptom has surfaced for people with COVID-19, and it isn’t pleasant. The virus appears to be reaching areas of the body it doesn’t usually touch, including fingers, toes, and tongues, and causing them to swell. Dubbed “COVID toes”, the strange symptom is giving some people puffed up, painful digits, and scientists aren’t exactly […]

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 […]