discoveries

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

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Huge Trove of Ancient Egyptian Memos Uncovered

Pottery shards were inscribed with receipts, notes about daily life, homework

(Newser) - Archaeologists have uncovered a huge trove of notes written on the Ancient Egyptian equivalent of scrap paper. A German-Egyptian team says it has uncovered more than 43,000 inscribed pottery and limestone fragments—essentially 2,000-year-old receipts, memos, and homework—from an archaeological site west of the Nile, Gizmodo reports....

Research May Upend What We Thought About Early Humans

Analysis suggests Chile's Monte Verde site dates to Middle Holocene, not ice age—but not all agree

(Newser) - Monte Verde, long treated as one of the earliest human camps in South America, is suddenly at the center of a sharp scientific split over the timeline. A new study in Science argues that the famed Chilean site isn't a 14,500-year-old camp from the ice age at all,...

2K-Year-Old Projective Carries 'Sarcastic' Message
2K-Year-Old Projectile
Carries 'Sarcastic' Message
NEW STUDY
Mar 19, 2026 11:25 AM CDT

2K-Year-Old Projectile Carries 'Sarcastic' Message

Essentially, 'learn your lesson'

(Newser) - A 2,000-year-old bit of battlefield trash talk has turned up in northern Israel. Archaeologists excavating the Hellenistic city of Hippos, just east of the Sea of Galilee, uncovered a lead projectile known as a sling bullet stamped in Greek with a single command: "Learn," interpreted as "...

Early Menopause Linked to Higher Heart Risk
Early Menopause Linked
to Higher Heart Risk
new study
Mar 18, 2026 2:35 PM CDT

Early Menopause Linked to Higher Heart Risk

Women who stop menstruating before age 40 should tell their doctor, study suggests

(Newser) - Women who stop menstruating before age 40 appear to face a higher risk of heart trouble later. A long-running analysis of more than 10,000 women, published in JAMA Cardiology , finds that menopause before 40 is associated with about a 40% higher lifetime risk of coronary heart disease, reports STAT...

Want to Keep Your Brain Young? Try the MIND Diet
Combo of Two Diets
May Slow Brain Aging
NEW STUDY
Mar 18, 2026 8:45 AM CDT

Combo of Two Diets May Slow Brain Aging

MIND diet is a melding of Mediterranean, DASH diets

(Newser) - Pairing two familiar eating plans may help your brain hang on to its youth, at least on scans. A study of more than 1,600 adults found that people who stuck more closely to the MIND diet—a mashup of the Mediterranean and DASH diets—had brain structures that looked...

You Can Now Hear the Ocean as It Was in 1949

Researchers celebrate discovery of oldest known recording of whale song

(Newser) - A haunting whale song discovered on decades-old audio equipment could open up a new understanding of how the huge animals communicate, according to researchers who say it's the oldest such recording known. The song is that of a humpback whale, a marine giant beloved by whale watchers for its...

Bumblebee Queens Can Survive a Week Breathing Underwater
Bumblebees Have a Pretty
Handy Survival Tactic
NEW STUDY
Mar 14, 2026 7:10 AM CDT

Bumblebees Have a Pretty Handy Survival Tactic

Scientists say queen bees are able to survive a week underwater during winter flooding

(Newser) - Bumblebee queens have a survival trick that sounds impossible: They can apparently ride out a week underwater. A lab mishap at Ontario's University of Guelph led to the discovery, detailed in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B journal , after condensation flooded soil tubes holding common eastern bumblebee queens...

Long-Lost Page of Archimedes Manuscript Unearthed
Long-Lost Page of Archimedes
Manuscript Unearthed
NEW STUDY
Mar 13, 2026 9:25 AM CDT

Long-Lost Page of Archimedes Manuscript Unearthed

French researcher spots missing palimpsest leaf in Blois museum archives

(Newser) - A casual suggestion in a French office just rewrote a chapter of math history. Researcher Victor Gysembergh of France's CNRS says he has identified a long-missing page from the famed Archimedes Palimpsest, hiding in a fine arts museum in the central French city of Blois, reports AFP . The parchment,...

'A Bear May Be in Front of Your House When You Wake Up'

Cloudy skies tied to climate change are leading to food shortages, spurring bear attacks in Japan

(Newser) - Residents in northern Japan now have a new hazard to worry about: hungry bears. The country is seeing an unprecedented spike in attacks, with more than a dozen people killed and upward of 200 injured in 2025, prompting the government to deploy troops in Akita prefecture, and the US Embassy...

Eggshell Etchings Suggest Early Humans Knew Geometry

Researchers look at examples from southern Africa more than 60K years ago

(Newser) - Early hunter-gatherers in southern Africa may have been doing more than just decorating their makeshift water bottles. A new study in the journal PLOS One suggests that engravings on 60,000-year-old ostrich eggshells—which were used to hold water—show a grasp of basic geometry, reports Smithsonian Magazine . Researchers analyzed...

Many Ozempic Users Can Maintain Weight With Fewer Doses

Small pilot suggests lower, less-frequent doses may still maintain benefits of obesity-busting drug

(Newser) - People on weight-loss drugs like Ozempic may not need to jab themselves nearly as often as they think, a small new study suggests. Researchers at Scripps Health followed 30 patients on GLP-1 medications—including semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound)—who'd hit a weight plateau and then shifted to less...

Cancer Diagnosis Tied to Higher Crime Risk
Cancer Diagnoses Can
Create Mini-Walter Whites
NEW STUDY
Mar 5, 2026 7:40 AM CST

Cancer Diagnoses Can Create Mini-Walter Whites

Study links post-diagnosis rise in both minor and violent crimes, much like Breaking Bad scenario

(Newser) - A cancer diagnosis may change more than your outlook on life, suggests a new Danish study that finds patients are more likely to end up with a criminal conviction in the decade that follows. Per ScienceAlert , researchers tracked more than 368,000 people diagnosed with cancer between 1980 and 2018...

ChatGPT Health Tool Isn't So Great in a Crisis
ChatGPT Health Tool Isn't
So Great in a Crisis
NEW STUDY
Mar 3, 2026 5:48 AM CST

ChatGPT Health Tool Isn't So Great in a Crisis

Research finds platform misses the mark on IDing emergencies, neglects to flag suicidal ideation

(Newser) - A tool billed as a way to plug your medical records into ChatGPT and receive health advice is drawing sharp warnings from researchers. In the first independent safety review of ChatGPT Health , published in Nature Medicine, the system underestimated the urgency of care in just over half of cases where...

To Climb the Social Ladder, Baby Clownfish Ditch Stripes

Young fish lose their 'baby stripes' faster when adults are around

(Newser) - Clownfish aren't just colorful; they're calculating. A new study finds that baby tomato anemonefish ditch their "baby stripes" faster when they're hanging around adults, reports EuroNews , essentially altering their look to lock in status in their tightly ranked social groups. In these anemones, only one dominant...

Melting Sea Ice May Be Making Penguins' Molting Deadly
For Antarctic Penguins,
Molting Can Now Be Deadly
NEW STUDY
Mar 1, 2026 3:03 PM CST

For Antarctic Penguins, Molting Can Now Be Deadly

Shrinking sea ice leaves emperor penguin colonies dangerously exposed during full-body molt

(Newser) - Emperor penguins can't skip their annual wardrobe change, and that may now be killing them. A new study finds the birds' once-routine full-body molt has turned into a high-stakes gamble as Antarctic sea ice rapidly retreats.
  • Adult emperors must park on stable sea ice for 30 to 40 days
...

Bananas May Soon Get a Break From a Devastating Fungus
Scientists May Have a Way
to Stop Banana Apocalypse
in case you missed it
Feb 28, 2026 3:33 PM CST

Scientists May Have a Way to Stop Banana Apocalypse

They've pinpointed genetic resistance to a devastating fungus

(Newser) - Bananas may not be doomed after all . Australian researchers say they've pinpointed a key stretch of DNA that helps some bananas fend off a major fungal threat—a finding they hope will keep the $140 billion global industry from repeating the near-wipeout of the Gros Michel variety in the...

Student Finds Second Crusader Sword in 5 Years
Student Finds Second
Crusader Sword in 5 Years
in case you missed it
Feb 28, 2026 12:17 PM CST

Student Finds Second Crusader Sword in 5 Years

Shlomi Katzin's rare 12th-century discovery off Israeli coast scanned to reveal secrets

(Newser) - Finding one Crusader sword in the Mediterranean is unusual; finding a second in nearly the same spot is something else. Israel's University of Haifa says student Shlomi Katzin has again stumbled on a 12th-century weapon off the Carmel coast, this time near Dor Beach. Katzin, a student in the...

Why Your Basketball Shoes Squeak
Why Your
Basketball
Shoes Squeak
NEW STUDY
Feb 28, 2026 9:50 AM CST

Why Your Basketball Shoes Squeak

Scientists take a look at that sound that happens when rubber meets the basketball court

(Newser) - As he watched the Boston Celtics play at TD Garden, one noise kept catching Adel Djellouli's ear. "This squeaking sound when players are sliding on the floor is omnipresent," he said. Returning home from the game, Djellouli wondered how that sound was produced—and as a materials...

Achilles' Heel for Bedbugs: They're Terrified of Water
Scientists Discover What
Terrifies Bedbugs
NEW STUDY
Feb 28, 2026 7:10 AM CST

Scientists Discover What Terrifies Bedbugs

Study finds the critters don't love water, instinctively avoid wet, liquid-treated household surfaces

(Newser) - Bedbugs, it turns out, really don't like to get their feet wet. Researchers at UC-Riverside report that the household pests strongly avoid damp surfaces, a finding that emerged by accident when a lab feeding device leaked blood into a vial of bedbugs—and the insects refused to go near...

Scientists Find a New Wrinkle in Neanderthal-Human Mating

Study suggests it mostly took place between Neanderthal males and female humans

(Newser) - Scientists have known for a while that Neanderthals occasionally mated with humans eons ago. But a study in Science adds a new layer of knowledge to the subject: It turns out that much of this mating took place between Neanderthal males and female humans, "as opposed to the other...

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