Tom Metcalfe

Tom Metcalfe is a freelance journalist and regular Live Science contributor who is based in London in the United Kingdom. Tom writes mainly about science, space, archaeology, the Earth and the oceans. He has also written for the BBC, NBC News, National Geographic, Scientific American, Air & Space, and many others.

Articles by: Tom Metcalfe

Rhode Island shipwreck that may be Captain Cook's Endeavor.

Captain Cook's 'Endeavour' Shipwreck Possibly Discovered Off Rhode Island

By Tom Metcalfe published

It sailed around the world in the 1700s and is considered one of the most famous research ships.

This famous photograph of Nessie from 1934 turned out to be a hoax created with a toy submarine and a fake "sea monster" body.

Loch Ness Contains No 'Monster' DNA, Say Scientists

By Tom Metcalfe published

A scientific survey of the waters of Loch Ness found it contains no traces of "monster" DNA at all, adding weight to the already-likely prospect that "Nessie" doesn't really exist.

the icebreaker rv polarstern on the ice at night

A Massive Icebreaker Ship Will Trap Itself in Arctic Sea Ice on Purpose. Here's Why.

By Tom Metcalfe published

Here's why they're doing it.

Cyber army of robots.

'Terminator' Android Preaches Buddhist Wisdom at Ancient Japanese Temple

By Tom Metcalfe published

This android preaches Buddhist wisdom from the heart.

The British soldiers, mostly from the Campbell clan, were billeted in MacDonald houses in Glencoe before they were ordered to kill or drive off their hosts.

'Lost Village' Found at Site of Most Infamous Clan Massacre in Scotland

By Tom Metcalfe published

Archaeologists excavating the scene of the most infamous clan massacre in Scottish history have unearthed parts of a 'lost village' in the Highlands valley of Glencoe.

St. Finan's Isle is located on Loch Shiel, shown here, in the Scottish Highlands. The body of water was featured as the Black Lake in "Harry Potter" movies.

Thief Steals 'Cursed' Medieval Bell from 'Harry Potter' Island in Scotland

By Tom Metcalfe published

The bronze bell is a religious relic that may be 1,000 years old.

Church of Apostles excavation

In Photos: Biblical 'Church of the Apostles' Discovered

By Tom Metcalfe published

Jesus is said to have healed a blind man at the site, located along the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel.

The excavations at Beit Habek beside the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel have unearthed a Byzantine-age church, said to be built above the house of Jesus' apostles Peter and Andrew.

Early Christian 'Church of the Apostles' Possibly Unearthed Near Sea of Galilee

By Tom Metcalfe published

Jesus is said to have healed a blind man and split bread at this holy site.

Russia has never acknowledged that any nuclear accident took place at the Mayak facility in the Chelyabinsk region in 2017.

Mysterious Radiation Cloud Over Europe Traced to Secret Russian Nuclear Accident

By Tom Metcalfe published

The cloud held up to 100 times the level of radiation released after the Fukushima accident in Japan in 2011.

This false-color satellite photograph of Mount Michael shows the lava lake (in red) within the volcano – only the eighth persistent lake of molten rock ever discovered. The inset shows the location of Saunders Island.

Rare Lake of Bubbling Lava Discovered on Remote Antarctic Island

By Tom Metcalfe published

A huge lake of sizzling hot lava has been discovered in a volcano on a remote sub-Antarctic island in the South Atlantic Ocean.

The mobile buildings of the Halley research station were moved in 2017 to avoid the base being cut adrift by a growing chasm in the ice shelf.

'Ghost Base' Perched on a Growing Ice Chasm in Antarctica Is Running on Its Own

By Tom Metcalfe published

A remote science station in Antarctica forced to close over the polar winter by a dangerous ice chasm is completely empty of human life.

The latest excavations have revealed a Bronze Age burial mound that was built around 1,000 years after the Neolithic passage tomb of Bryn Celli Ddu.

4,000-Year-Old Burial Revealed on Britain's 'Island of Druids'

By Tom Metcalfe published

The island is most famous today for its supposed links to the Druids, who were described by the Roman general Julius Caesar

Gallery Anglesey Archaeology

In Photos: Island of the Druids

By Tom Metcalfe published

The island of Anglesey, overlooking the Irish Sea, has been linked for centuries with ancient and magical mysteries. The island has been linked with the magical order of priests called the Druids.

paleolithic milestones

Back to the Stone Age: 17 key milestones in Paleolithic life

By Tom Metcalfe published

The Stone Age may not have been "The Flintstones," but there were definitely caveman qualities to it.

The pistol thought to be the one used by Van Gogh to shoot himself is on public display at Paris' Drouot auction house.

Did Van Gogh Shoot Himself? Auction of Pistol Reignites Debate.

By Tom Metcalfe published

Did Van Gogh commit suicide, or was he shot by someone else?

Divers explored the wreck of the US F4U–4 Corsair fighter-bomber on Iriomote Jima in March 2019.

Wartime Story Leads Divers to Underwater WWII Wreck of Missing US Pilot

By Tom Metcalfe published

The identity of a U.S. warplane pilot, missing in action for almost 75 years, has been revealed after a diving expedition to the wreck of his aircraft.

Canadian scientists have completed 17 research expeditions into the Arctic Ocean since 2006, the most recent in 2016.

Canada Makes a Claim to the North Pole

By Tom Metcalfe published

Now, three northern nations are vying to stake their claim to part of the Arctic seafloor, a region chock-full of fossil fuels that lies under thousands of miles of water and ice.

Highly detailed planet Earth in the morning.

Scientists Find Possible Traces of 'Lost' Stone Age Settlement Beneath the North Sea

By Tom Metcalfe published

Doggerland once covered thousands of square miles between what is now the east coast of England and the European mainland.

Local legends say the carved stone jars were created by a race of giants to brew rice beer, but archaeologists think they were used in burial rituals

10-Foot-Tall Stone Jars 'Made by Giants' Stored Human Bodies in Ancient Laos

By Tom Metcalfe published

The carved "jars of the dead" are scattered across miles of the rugged, tiger-haunted Xiangkhouang province.

plain of jars laos

In Photos: Exploring the Mysterious Plain of Jars Site

By Tom Metcalfe published

The mysterious Plain of Jars is an archaeological site in central Laos that has thousands of stone vessels scattered across the ground.

excavation at Stonehenge in 1958

A Once-Missing Piece of Stonehenge Could Reveal Where Iconic Standing Stones Were Quarried

By Tom Metcalfe published

A circular "core" of stone, drilled out of one of the giant Neolithic standing stones at Stonehenge in southwest England, has been returned after being taken as a souvenir more than 60 years ago.

Potbelly sculptures on display near Guatemala's Pacific coast.

Ancient Guatemalan Sculptors Knowingly Crafted Magnetic 'Potbelly' Statues

By Tom Metcalfe published

The giant heads and distorted bodies are magnetized in particular spots.

A sonar anomaly in the North Sea ended up being a 16th-century Dutch shipwreck.

Sonar Anomaly Leads to Discovery of 500-Year-Old Shipwreck in North Sea

By Tom Metcalfe published

The wreck was filled with a trove of copper.

Stones in Avebury stone circle.

Stone Circles Ringed House That May Have Belonged to the Neolithic 'One Percent'

By Tom Metcalfe published

The ancient stone circles around Stonehenge and Avebury in England may have all started with the commemoration of a single Neolithic house.

Archaeologists have found the traces of posts and a wooden palisade (the diagonal mark from lower left to upper right) that date from around the time of the Pequot attack in 1637.

This 17th-Century Massacre in Connecticut was New England's 'Jamestown'

By Tom Metcalfe published

Archaeologists in Connecticut are investigating the site of a violent conflict between American colonists and Native Americans in the 17th century.