Tom Howarth

Bristol, Europe, United Kingdom

Journalist, Founder and Editor at Freelance

Nature Reporter at Newsweek

Trends Editor at BBC Science Focus

Journalist • Science & Climate Reporter • Views are my own

Articles

We may finally know what happened to the missing water on Mars

1 day ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

Mars once had vast oceans on its surface – then its magnetic field weakened, its atmosphere thinned, and its water vanished. But the numbers don’t add up: for the Red Planet to have transformed from a watery world into the red dust bowl we know today, all that water had to end up somewhere. So where did it go?
This is what you'd eat after the apocalypse, according to science

1 week ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

If a global catastrophe disrupted international trade and fuel supplies, our survival might hinge on a stark but practical diet of peas, potatoes, sugar beet and spinach. At least that’s according to a new study published in the journal PLOS One.
This adorable bopping sea lion can probably hold a beat better than you

2 weeks ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

A sea lion named Ronan can now keep time with music as well as – and sometimes better than – people, according to a new study. Ronan first made headlines more than a decade ago when she surprised scientists by nodding her head in time with music – a skill once believed to be uniquely human. Now, researchers say her sense of rhythm has not only held steady but improved. At her most practised tempo, she consistently hits within 15 milliseconds of the beat.
Deepfakes just got even harder to detect: Now they have heartbeats

2 weeks ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

Deepfakes – videos where a person’s face or body has been digitally altered to mimic someone else – are getting disturbingly good: they now even have heartbeats. This finding, detailed in a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Imaging, could render some of the most advanced deepfake detectors – which rely on analysing consistent patterns of blood flows across a person's face – essentially useless, making dangerous content even harder to spot.
This massive 'zombie' volcano might not be so dead after all

2 weeks ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

A huge "zombie" volcano in Bolivia is showing signs of life, but scientists say, thankfully, that there is little immediate risk of an eruption. Uturuncu, a towering peak in the Central Andes, last erupted around 250,000 years ago. Yet for decades, researchers have observed unusual activity – including small earthquakes and a distinctive ‘sombrero’ pattern of ground deformation, with the centre of the volcano slowly rising while the surrounding area sinks.
Massive star-forming cloud found strangely close to Earth

2 weeks ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

A vast cloud of hydrogen gas – one of the largest single structures ever observed in the sky – has been discovered surprisingly close to Earth. Named Eos after the Greek goddess of the dawn, the cloud was detected because of its faint far-ultraviolet light naturally emitted by hydrogen molecules. Known as molecular clouds, these enormous structures of gas and dust are the cradles where new stars are born.
Inside the mission that captured the first-ever video of a colossal squid

2 weeks ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

It was just another descent into the inky deep when it appeared: a ghostly shape hovering in midwater, delicate and otherworldly. For a few fleeting minutes, the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian held steady in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, recording the first-ever footage of a colossal squid alive in its natural habitat. Colossal squid can grow up to 10m (33ft) in length and are the heaviest invertebrates in the world – but, until now, have never been seen alive.
The surprising way your body fat sabotages intermittent fasting

2 weeks ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

Intermittent fasting has become a popular strategy for boosting health and metabolism, but a new study suggests that its benefits may be blunted by body fat, thanks to a hidden disruption in the liver’s ability to adapt to starvation. Researchers monitored changes in the livers of healthy mice and obese mice lacking leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite, during periods of food deprivation.
Videos reveal lax biosecurity in New York poultry markets amid bird flu outbreaks

2 weeks ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

Campaigners and experts are raising the alarm after video footage obtained by BBC Science Focus reveals that inner-city poultry markets in New York are failing to take recommended precautions to protect staff and the public, as bird flu cases in the state continue to rise. The footage shows staff at several locations in Queens handling birds without basic recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks.
The new ‘Bone Collector’ caterpillar wears the remains of its prey – and we have the footage to prove it | BBC Science Focus Magazine

3 weeks ago | sciencefocus.com | Tom Howarth

A newly discovered species of caterpillar has been found creeping through spider webs on the Hawaiian island of O‘ahu – and it’s unlike anything scientists have seen before. Not only does it live in an eerily precarious environment, suspended among webs inside tree hollows, rock crevices and fallen logs, but this caterpillar is carnivorous. And after it’s finished feasting on its prey, it wears their body parts as camouflage.

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