Deborah Bloomfield

Piezoelectric crystals have recently been identified as being the cause of a natural phenomenon that has shaped the rise and fall of civilizations. There are also frequent efforts to find socially useful applications for it, although many of these have ended up as curiosities. So, what is piezoelectricity, and why do crystals that have it […]

“[In the] UK – we call it Autumn, from the French word ‘autompne’, and later, the Latin ‘autumnus’,” begins a now-infamous tweet from 2013. “[In the] US – WE CALL IT FALL BECAUSE LEAF FALL DOWN”. Advertisement It’s undoubtedly funny, but is it true? Well, not quite. Why do Brits call fall “autumn”? First things […]

Surviving for around 400 years, the Greenland shark is the world’s longest-living vertebrate – but little is known about its impressive longevity. Now, an international team of scientists has mapped its genome for the first time, potentially spilling some of its anti-aging secrets. Advertisement The research (posted as a preprint and yet to be peer-reviewed) […]

A team of researchers have won a coveted Ig Nobel Prize for tossing coins hundreds of thousands of times and proving that coin flips are not 50/50 after all.  Advertisement In sports, coin tosses are often used to decide who goes first, or pick who goes to bat for the first part of the game. […]

Submerged settlements, also known as sunken cities, might sound mythical but they are very real, and while their migration underwater makes them harder to find, it can also preserve them far better than they would have fared surface-side. Marine archaeologist Professor Jon Henderson knows this all too well. As Head of Archaeology at the University […]

You’ve no doubt heard of the Mediterranean diet, you might even have come across its cooler cousin the Atlantic diet, but what about the MIND diet? It’s touted for its brain benefits, and now a new study has provided evidence to suggest it could help reduce the risk of cognitive problems during aging. Advertisement The […]

Let’s talk about carrots. Sweet and versatile, you can turn them into so many tasty dishes – but the humble carrot has come in for some criticism as of late, with a small yet vocal corner of the internet warning people off them and similarly bright-colored veggies due to fears about “vitamin A toxicity”. We […]

Most of us have heard of the Mason-Dixon line, but far fewer of us – particularly outside of the US – really know the full story behind its creation. Most famous as the border between free and slave states before the US Civil War, the line – well, actually three lines, but we’re only going […]

This week, a growing body of research hints at a “third state” that lies beyond the boundaries of life and death, new research into a piece of African rock art suggests it may show an extinct animal that lived millions of years before humans, and a truly supermassive black hole has jets spanning 23 million […]

Growing up in the animal world is no easy feat. Not only do you have to survive in harsh climatic conditions, hide from predators, or even learn to fly, but sometimes you need to learn to hunt as well. Fortunately for the orca calves of Monterey Bay, California, they had some adults on hand to […]

In the latest move towards more sustainable construction, engineers at MIT have come up with an ingenious way of producing 3D-printed, reusable bricks – but the material they’ve chosen might just surprise you. They’re made of glass, but their clever construction means they’re every bit as good as concrete, with better green credentials.  Advertisement “Glass […]

Americans, we have good and bad news. The good news? A new report from the Commonwealth Fund has concluded that your healthcare system is, and we quote, “in a class by itself” among wealthy nations. The bad news? It’s… not exactly the AP class they’re talking about. Advertisement “The U.S. is failing one of its […]

When chemists had an idea for a better catalyst to make ammonia, they decided to try nine variations at the same time. That turned out to be just as well, because the version they expected to work didn’t – but one of the long-shot alternatives proved so successful the work could end up cutting carbon […]

Veterinary medicine is a difficult field at the best of times, considering that the majority (but not all) of their patients can’t talk. It becomes even more difficult when serious health issues require surgery, and the complications only compound when the animal that needs surgery is a southern white rhinoceros.  Advertisement Amara the southern white […]

Several hundred million years ago, a smallish elliptical galaxy passed through a larger spiral one. The result of that collision is the Arp 107 system. The spiral galaxy had its arms completely altered. One is still mostly there but the others present are now tendrils stretching around the galaxy. Now, new observations by JWST have […]

The entire human genome – all 3 billion or so base pairs – has been stored on a tiny, 5D memory crystal built to last for billions of years. In theory, should humans go extinct, this little chip could provide a blueprint to bring us back – providing the technology to do so has materialized […]

A 60-year-old woman has sustained thermal burns after going off-trail at Yellowstone National Park. Advertisement The incident took place on the afternoon of Monday September 16, 2024, when the woman, her husband, and their leashed dog wandered into the thermal area near Mallard Lake Trailhead, at Old Faithful. The woman then stepped through a thin […]

If you grew up in the 80s and 90s and struggled with picky eating, chances are you have some painful memories of mealtime battles and stressed-out parents. Thankfully, knowledge and understanding of these issues has moved on somewhat, but there’s still stigma attached to the label of “fussy” or “picky” – both for kids and […]

Scientists examining the teeth of ancient pandas discovered at a fossil site in southern Germany have identified evidence that rewrites our understanding of their evolutionary history. Unlike modern pandas, these extinct bears were omnivorous. Advertisement Existing giant pandas are famous for their laziness and their fastidious diet of bamboo shoots, leaves and stems. In fact, […]

Members of the San and Khoe Indigenous populations of southern Africa can still trace much of their genetic ancestry back to prehistoric hunter-gatherers who lived in the region 10,000 years ago. According to the authors of a new study, this degree of genetic continuity over multiple millennia is “exceptional in the global archaeogenetic record.” Advertisement […]