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Read the latest news stories about recent scientific discoveries on Newser.com

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This May Be the First Evidence of Narwhals Playing
The Narwal's
Signature Tusk
May Be Multipurpose
NEW STUDY
Mar 13, 2025 9:23 AM CDT

The Narwal's Signature Tusk May Be Multipurpose

It could have uses in foraging and play, in addition to mating

(Newser) - What is the point of a narwhal's signature tusk, which is actually just one, long spiraled tooth? The answer may be multifaceted, according to new research. Prior research indicates the lengthy tooth, rarely seen in females, is a sexual display, used to communicate a male's fertility —the...

Archaeologists Found the Head in 1927. Now, the Body

Buddha torso found in Cambodia's ancient Angkor temple complex

(Newser) - Archaeologists in February unearthed a torso of a Buddha statue at Cambodia's ancient Angkor temple complex—essentially completing a puzzle that's been nearly a century in the making. The AP reports the nearly 4-foot-tall torso, which is thought to date to the 12th or 13th century, was uncovered...

Shipwreck Discovery Gave Him 'Chills'

Western Reserve was one of the first all-steel cargo ships to traverse the Great Lakes

(Newser) - Twenty years before the Titanic changed maritime history, another ship touted as the next great technological feat set sail on the Great Lakes. The Western Reserve was one of the first all-steel cargo ships to traverse the lakes. Built to break speed records, the 300-foot freighter dubbed "the inland...

128 New Moons Nearly Double Saturn's Tally
We Have a New
'Moon King'
Mar 12, 2025 11:07 AM CDT

We Have a New 'Moon King'

Discovery of 128 Saturn moons brings planet's total to 274

(Newser) - Move over, Jupiter: Saturn is the new "moon king," with 274 planetary satellites in orbit, almost half of which were only just discovered. As of 2023, Jupiter was considered the leader among moon-hosting planets in the solar system with 92 confirmed, compared to Saturn's 83. Jupiter now...

We Underestimated the Megalodon
We Underestimated
the Megalodon
NEW STUDY
Mar 11, 2025 1:16 PM CDT

We Underestimated the Megalodon

Extinct shark could've been as long as 2 school buses, as heavy as a blue whale

(Newser) - It hasn't been easy forming a picture of the megalodon , a massive shark that dominated the oceans millions of years ago, because fossil finds include only teeth and vertebrae . But researchers in 28 countries now believe they have a good idea of what the shark looked like after comparing...

Archaeologists: This Is 'Holy Grail Stuff'
Archaeologists: Canoe
Find Is 'Holy Grail Stuff'
in case you missed it
Mar 8, 2025 11:30 AM CST

Archaeologists: Canoe Find Is 'Holy Grail Stuff'

Traditional 'waka' on Chatham Island could be 'one of the most important finds of all time in Polynesia'

(Newser) - A father-son duo on Chatham Island, 500 miles east of New Zealand, stumbled upon a find so rare, archaeologists describe it as "holy grail stuff." Vincent Dix and his son Nikau initially planned to build a coffee table from planks of wood found flowing out of a washed-out...

Bone Tools Came 1.2M Years Before Homo Sapiens
Bone Tools Came
1.2M Years Before
Homo Sapiens
NEW STUDY
Mar 6, 2025 8:15 AM CST

Bone Tools Came 1.2M Years Before Homo Sapiens

Early humans carved hand axes from hippo, elephant leg bones 1.5M years ago

(Newser) - Early humans were regularly using animal bones to make cutting tools 1.5 million years ago, reports the AP . A newly discovered cache of 27 carved and sharpened bones from elephants and hippos found in Tanzania's Olduvai Gorge site pushes back the date for ancient bone tool use by...

Researchers Predict Next Ice Age, With a Catch
Researchers Predict
Next Ice Age—With a Catch
new study
Mar 3, 2025 10:37 AM CST

Researchers Predict Next Ice Age—With a Catch

It should happen in 10K years, but our warming temperatures are likely to delay it

(Newser) - Researchers say they have for the first time cracked the code on how to determine when ice ages come and go—and their formula suggests the next one should arrive in 10,000 years, reports USA Today . But there's a catch: Our warming temperatures make it "very unlikely"...

Ancient Bones Found in Cave Show Signs of Cannibalism

Bones discovered long ago in Maszycka Cave in Poland give up more secrets

(Newser) - It's been more than a century since human bones dating back 18,000 years were found in the Maszycka Cave in Poland, and they're only now giving up some more of their secrets—grim ones. A study published in Scientific Reports in early February and based on the...

In Vesuvius, a Human Brain Turned Into Stunning Glass

Vesuvius victim's brain liquified at up to 1,100 degrees, then quickly cooled: study

(Newser) - They are tiny pieces of black glass. They are also, technically, fossilized brains. The pea-sized pieces of shiny glass, actually quite beautiful close up, were discovered around 2018 inside the skull of a man who died when Italy's Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD, destroying Roman cities including Herculaneum and...

After Trip, Her Legs Were Burning. Culprit: a Brain Worm
Woman's Unwelcome Souvenir
From Trip: a Brain Worm
in case you missed it
Feb 23, 2025 3:10 PM CST

Woman's Unwelcome Souvenir From Trip: a Brain Worm

Parasite contracted in Hawaii or Southeast Asia caused patient's legs to feel like they were burning

(Newser) - A woman on a whirlwind three-week junket to Hawaii, Japan, and Thailand returned home with an unwanted memento: a parasite that embedded itself in her brain and made her legs feel like they were burning. That odd sensation started out in the New England 30-year-old's feet after she got...

Turns Out, Ancient Mummies Smell Kind of Nice
Scent of Ancient Mummies
May Surprise You
in case you missed it
Feb 22, 2025 11:30 AM CST

Scent of Ancient Mummies May Surprise You

It's pleasant, not rancid, scientists report

(Newser) - Soon, visitors to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo will be able to catch a whiff of humans who died thousands of years ago. A new study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society suggests they might be pleasantly surprised. Researchers extracted scents from inside the sarcophagi of nine mummies...

Burials in River Thames Go Back 6K Years
River Thames Has Been
a Burial Site for 6K Years
new study
Feb 22, 2025 7:00 AM CST

River Thames Has Been a Burial Site for 6K Years

'There really was something significant going on in the Bronze and Iron Ages,' says researcher

(Newser) - Researchers taking the most comprehensive look yet at ancient bones dredged from the River Thames in London have dated some of the remains back 6,000 years, reports Gizmodo . However, Live Science reports that most of them date from the Bronze Age (2300 to 800 BC) and the Iron Age...

Want to Make Your Texts More Intense? Use. Periods.
Adding Periods to Texts
Changes. Their. Intensity.
NEW STUDY
Feb 20, 2025 5:35 PM CST

Adding Periods to Texts Changes. Their. Intensity.

Researchers say periods and text breaks may be 'equivalent to a dramatic pause'

(Newser) - We all likely spend a fair amount of time analyzing text messages. It's not always easy to gauge a sender's feelings from written words, as facial expressions and patterns of rhythm and sound often used to shape meaning in spoken conversations are absent. But "textisms"—a...

Egypt Uncovers First Royal Tomb in a Century

But tomb of King Thutmose II was flooded, raided in antiquity

(Newser) - Archaeologists have made a stunning discovery: the first royal tomb to be found in Egypt since King Tutankhamun's in 1922—though unlike Tut's tomb, this one is in rough shape. The entrance and main passage of the poorly-preserved tomb in the Wadi Gabbanat el-Qurud, southwest of the Valley...

Scientists Pinpoint Gene Tied to Human Language
Scientists Pinpoint Gene
Tied to Human Language
NEW STUDY
Feb 18, 2025 10:52 AM CST

Scientists Pinpoint Gene Tied to Human Language

Protein variant found only in humans may have helped us learn to communicate the way we do

(Newser) - Why did humans start speaking? A new study links one gene to the origins of spoken language, proposing that a protein variant found only in humans may have helped us communicate in a novel way—and what scientists learn may someday help people with speech problems. Speech over the centuries...

Creepy Fish Emerges From the Deep: 'I Thought It Was AI'
Rare Sighting of This 'Seadevil'
Is a 'Dream Come True'
in case you missed it
Feb 16, 2025 7:00 AM CST

Rare Sighting of This 'Seadevil' Is a 'Dream Come True'

Humpback anglerfish is spotted in broad daylight, near ocean's surface, for what may be first time

(Newser) - A deep-sea creature only recorded alive on one other occasion has been seen for what's believed to be the first time in broad daylight. Per National Geographic , researchers from the Condrik Tenerife NGO working near the Canary Islands off the coast of Tenerife caught a glimpse on Jan. 26...

Undersea Telescope Detects Extremely Unusual Particle

'We've just opened a completely new window'

(Newser) - The Kilometer Cube Neutrino Telescope—KM3NeT—is still under construction deep in the Mediterranean Sea but it has already made a find that has amazed scientists. In a study published in the journal Nature , researchers say they detected a neutrino vastly more powerful than any particle they had seen before....

The Best Way to Boil an Egg Is ... Tedious
The Best Way to Boil
an Egg Is ... Tedious
NEW STUDY
Feb 11, 2025 12:30 PM CST

The Best Way to Boil an Egg Is ... Tedious

Periodic cooking over half an hour is ideal, researchers say

(Newser) - Boiling an exceptional egg takes time. Thirty-two minutes to be exact. But it's not as easy as dropping the egg in water and walking away, according to a new study published Thursday in Communications Engineering . The perfect egg is a tedious business, according to researchers, who set about finding...

Earth's Inner Core Has Deformed
Earth's Inner Core
Has Deformed
NEW STUDY
Feb 11, 2025 7:11 AM CST

Earth's Inner Core Has Deformed

Seismic waves reveal changes to inner core's surface, likely caused by outer core's 'pushing'

(Newser) - Scientists have for some time suspected climate change is affecting Earth's beating heart . Now, a study offers specifics on changes at the planet's unreachable inner core. Building on 2024 research that described how the solid ball of iron and nickel at the center of the Earth, about 70%...

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