discoveries

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

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3B Years Ago, Venus Might've Been Livable

Climate models suggest it was a lot like early Earth

(Newser) - Venus is perhaps best known as "that torrid acid bath next door," as Gizmodo puts it, with toxic thunderclouds and atmospheric pressure capable of crushing bones, per Science Alert —but it might have looked very different 700 million years ago. After plugging topographic data and the hydrogen...

Put Your Coat On: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including an intriguing one about humpback whales

(Newser) - A surprisingly simple theory about Neanderthals and a possible explanation for the female orgasm make the list:
  • Neanderthals Doomed by Lack of Jackets : Justifying concerned mothers everywhere, a group of researchers believes Neanderthals could have survived the Ice Age if they'd just worn a dang jacket. Dozens of ancient
...

China's Great Flood Legend Might Actually Be True

Evidence suggests water covered North China Plain 4K years ago

(Newser) - A great flood at the dawn of Chinese civilization was said to have swept away settlements, the water rising so high that it overran heaven itself. It was the sage King Yu who tamed the waters by building ditches, the legend went, thus earning a mandate to rule and laying...

Here's Why Amish Kids Don't Get Asthma as Often

They can probably thank the cows

(Newser) - You're probably less likely to see an Amish kid carrying around an inhaler, because they don't seem to get asthma as often as other kids—and researchers think it's due to the cows, Live Science reports. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine ...

Study: Neanderthals Were Doomed by Lack of Jackets

But ancient humans figured out warm clothing

(Newser) - Justifying concerned mothers everywhere, a group of researchers believes Neanderthals could have survived the Ice Age if they'd just worn a dang jacket. According to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology , dozens of ancient campsites—both human and Neanderthal—contain little evidence that Neanderthals ever...

Bones on Coast Could Be 1847 Shipwreck Victims

The Carricks of Whitehaven was en route to Quebec City when it went down

(Newser) - In late July, human remains were found near Cap-des-Rosiers, Quebec—and archaeologists believe they may belong to people who died at sea in 1847. The story of the Carricks of Whitehaven layers tragedy upon tragedy: Passengers on the Irish ship were trying to escape the potato famine that was killing...

2 Common Surgeries May Make Women More Fertile

Tonsillectomy, appendectomy linked to increased chance of pregnancy in study

(Newser) - Having their tonsils or appendix removed might result in an unexpected benefit for young women who hope to become pregnant someday: New research suggests they might be more fertile as a result. A 15-year study of half a million British women finds that a woman who has undergone a tonsillectomy...

Millennials Are the &#39;Hookup Generation&#39;? Not Even Close
Millennials Are the 'Hookup Generation'? Not Quite
NEW STUDY
Aug 3, 2016 10:17 AM CDT

Millennials Are the 'Hookup Generation'? Not Quite

They have less sex, few partners than their parents: study

(Newser) - Think young people are knocking boots left and right? You're actually way off. In fact, millennials' sex lives are most similar to those about 75 years ago, a new study finds. In a survey of 26,000 adults from 1989 to 2014, people born in the 1980s and '...

Alaska's Woolly Mammoths Likely Died of Thirst

Rising seas made fresh water scarce on St. Paul Island 5,600 years ago

(Newser) - Some of the world's last remaining woolly mammoths literally died of thirst, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . The ancient animals were still living on a small island off the coast of Alaska until about 5,600 years ago—or...

Researchers Get to the Bottom of Female Orgasm

They have a new theory that focuses on the way ovulation has evolved

(Newser) - The role of the female orgasm has been a head-scratcher for centuries. Case-in-point: Aristotle himself noted that the fact that human females don't need it to conceive clouded the quest for explanation. The statistics that show it's an "uncommon" occurrence during heterosexual intercourse and the lack of...

First Mass Extinction Likely Caused by 'Utterly Weird' Animals

Animals shaped like 'Frisbees and lumpy mattresses' may have killed early Ediacarans

(Newser) - New fossil evidence dug up in Namibia lends credence to the theory that we should blame "ecosystem engineers" for the world's first mass extinction, and that's not a euphemism for man, asteroids, or aliens. Instead, per a Vanderbilt University study published in the October issue of the...

Humpbacks Save Other Animals From Orcas

The 'why' part is unclear

(Newser) - Whale researchers say they've collected enough evidence to make a remarkable assertion: Humpback whales deliberately save other creatures from killer whales. The scientists collected 115 accounts between 1951 and 2012, they write in Marine Mammal Science . Maine ecologist Robert Pitman got the idea for the survey after seeing an...

Pro Tip for Rio Travelers: 'Don't Put Your Head Underwater'

AP study finds waters in Olympic city are still dangerously contaminated

(Newser) - Just days ahead of the Olympic Games, Rio waterways are as filthy as ever, contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria, according to a 16-month-long study commissioned by the AP . Not only are some 1,400 athletes at risk of getting violently ill in water competitions,...

A Blue Wonder: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a rare new whale species

(Newser) - A new "blue hole" and a long royal mystery solved are among the most intriguing discoveries of the week:
  • There's a New Whale Species, and It's a Big One : When a 24-foot whale carcass washed up on the beach of a remote Alaskan island, a researcher was
...

This Is the Oldest Evidence of Cancer in Humans
This Is the Oldest Evidence
of Cancer in Humans
NEW STUDY
Jul 29, 2016 11:57 AM CDT

This Is the Oldest Evidence of Cancer in Humans

It comes from 1.7M-year-old foot bone

(Newser) - The oldest evidence of cancer in human relatives has long been a 120,000-year-old Neanderthal. A single foot bone changes that, by a lot. Belonging to an early hominin who lived 1.7 million years ago in South Africa, it holds the oldest example of a malignant tumor in a...

'Purple Blob' on Ocean Floor Baffles Scientists

It could be a new species of sea slug

(Newser) - Scientists exploring the seafloor around California's Channel Islands have made a strange discovery. They just aren't exactly sure what it is. While studying deep-sea coral via a remotely operated vehicle, scientists on the research vessel E/V Nautilus noticed a "dark purple blob" with a pink center on...

Traveling in Deep Space Is Bad for Your Heart

Apollo astronauts are much more likely to die of cardiovascular disease

(Newser) - Planning a trip to the moon? You might want to think about heart health first. According to a study published in Scientific Reports , travel in deep space dramatically raises the risk of cardiovascular disease. Florida State University researchers looked at America's Apollo astronauts, who are the only people ever...

Even Some Activity Keeps Death at Bay for Couch Potatoes

And one hour wipes out death risk from 8 hours of sitting, scientists say

(Newser) - If you think squeezing an hour of exercise in per day can't come close to making up for the other 23 hours when you're relatively sedentary—and so you don't bother at all—rethink that strategy. A study by Cambridge University and the Norwegian School of Sports...

Study: Being Out of Shape Nearly as Deadly as Smoking

And it's more dangerous than high cholesterol and blood pressure

(Newser) - Being physically unfit is more damaging to living a long life than everything except smoking, according to a study published Wednesday in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology . And as the Huffington Post puts it: "We all know how evil smoking is." Researchers measured the maximum oxygen intake...

Wine and Stinky Shipwreck Cheese, Anyone?

Not really sure of best pairing for gooey 340-year-old 'dairy product' from Swedish warship

(Newser) - For 340 years, the Swedish ship Kronan has languished at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, the 126-gun warship's permanent resting place after it was sunk right before a 1676 skirmish with Denmark and the Netherlands, Atlas Obscura reports. It was found in 1980, and since then it's...

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