Tom Howarth

Bristol, Europe, United Kingdom

Journalist, Founder and Editor at Freelance

Nature Reporter at Newsweek

Trends Editor at BBC Science Focus

Journalist • Nature Reporter | @newsweek • Views are my own

Articles

Lyrids meteor shower tonight: How and when to see the ancient fireball display

3 days ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

Every April, the Lyrid meteor shower returns to our skies, offering lucky stargazers the chance to glimpse fireballs zipping across the sky. While it’s not the most prolific meteor display of the year, the Lyrids are a welcome treat for stargazers – especially after the long, meteor-shower-less months of late winter. Here’s everything you need to know about the Lyrids in 2025, including when to look up, what to expect and how to get the best view.
Something strange is happening to Earth’s rotation. Now we know why

4 days ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

Over the past two decades, Earth’s rotation has been behaving oddly – and scientists have finally pinned down one surprising reason: we’re losing water from the land. A new study published in Science reveals a dramatic shift in the Earth’s axis since the early 2000s – amounting to a wobble of about 45 cm – was not caused by changes in the core, ice loss or glacial rebound, but by a massive and previously underappreciated loss of soil moisture across the planet.
Here’s the truth about your ‘digital dementia’ risk

1 week ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

Contrary to what you might think, technology could actually offer some surprising benefits in slowing cognitive decline as we age. At least that’s according to a new study published in the journal Nature Human Behavior. “The terms 'brain rot' and 'brain drain' get thrown around a lot, and now we’re seeing the term 'digital dementia’,” Prof Michael Scullin, co-author of the new study, told BBC Science Focus.
Even protein-rich vegan diets may fall short on key nutrients, study suggests

1 week ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

People on vegan diets may be missing key muscle-building nutrients, even if their total protein intake seems sufficient, claims a new study. Researchers in New Zealand found that some long-term vegans lacked essential amino acids – the building blocks of protein – which could have implications for overall nutrition. Proteins are made up of amino acids, nine of which are considered “indispensable” because our bodies can’t produce them.
AstraZeneca’s $130 million biomethane plant is a model for high-emitting industries

1 week ago | trellis.net | Tom Howarth

The plant is expected to supply 100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable gas annually to AstraZeneca’s plants in the U.K.It was built by Future Biogas with a 15-year, $130 million offtake agreement from AstraZeneca. It operates without subsidies and uses dedicated energy crops, not waste materials.
Scientists may have just solved one of space’s biggest mysteries

1 week ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

One of space science’s longest-standing puzzles may finally have an answer. Scientists say they’ve figured out why carbon-rich asteroids – which are common in space – almost never make it to Earth’s surface. The findings, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, could reshape our understanding of how the Solar System formed, and how the ingredients for life first arrived on Earth. Carbon-rich asteroids are everywhere in the Solar System.
Archaeologists uncover Maya ‘emotional wasteland’ littered with eerie skeletons

2 weeks ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

Just a stone’s throw from the centre of Tikal – the vast Maya city in the heart of modern-day Guatemala – archaeologists have unearthed a chilling new clue to one of the most turbulent periods in ancient Mesoamerican history. At the heart of a buried residential compound, researchers discovered an altar built in the style of a faraway civilisation. Around it, they found skeletons – including infants – arranged with disturbing precision.
Something really strange is happening to one of our closest galactic neighbours

2 weeks ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) – a dwarf galaxy orbiting near our own Milky Way – appears to be meeting a rather dramatic end. That’s the conclusion of a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, where astronomers tracked more than 7,000 massive stars in the SMC – each one over eight times the mass of our Sun.
Here's what your hearing could say about your heart failure risk

2 weeks ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

More than 60 million people globally suffer from heart failure – a condition where the heart is unable to pump blood around the body properly, usually because the heart has become weak or stiff. Coronary heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity are among its typical causes. But how about hearing? According to a new study published in the journal Heart, hearing loss is indeed linked to a heightened risk of heart failure.
Facebook is still experimenting on you in really strange ways, research claims

2 weeks ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

By now, we all know what social media is about. Sure, sites like Facebook and Instagram help us stay connected and keep up with celebrity gossip, but at their core, they’re money-making businesses powered by advertising revenue. For most of us, that’s a fair trade. A few targeted ads seem like a small price to pay for access to everything the internet offers. And if you end up buying a kitchen gadget you never knew you needed, what’s the harm? But who’s really deciding what adverts you see?