discoveries

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

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Antiques Roadshow Said Jug Is Worth $50K. Uh, Nope

It was actually made by a high school student in 1970s

(Newser) - It's "rare" for Antiques Roadshow to make a mistake when appraising items, Time notes, but it does happen—and it happened in January in a big way. The show took a look at an item it calls " Grotesque Face Jug ," a jug with bizarre faces on...

Meta Study Suggests Probiotics Are the Latest Snake Oil

Researchers say bigger, better studies are needed

(Newser) - Probiotics are all the rage—the so-called "good bacteria" teeming naturally in foods such as yogurt and sauerkraut or worked into drinks and pills comprise a growing industry that Fortune reports posted more than $1 billion in annual sales in the US last year. It's expected to grow...

Archaeologists Find World&#39;s Oldest Axe
 Archaeologists 
 Find World's 
 Oldest Ax 
NEW STUDY
May 11, 2016 6:48 AM CDT

Archaeologists Find World's Oldest Ax

Only Japan comes close to harboring axes as old as fragment found in Australia

(Newser) - Archaeologists in Australia have found a fragment of an ax far older than any other ever found, evidence that the continent's first Aboriginal people were considerably more sophisticated with toolmaking than they've been given credit for. "We are rewriting history here," Sydney University archaeologist Peter Hiscock...

Desperate Marilyn Monroe Letter Up for Auction

She wrote to doctor about harrowing clinic experience

(Newser) - A carbon copy of a letter in which a troubled woman describes her enforced stay in a New York psychiatric clinic will be auctioned off this November—and since that woman is Marilyn Monroe, it's expected to sell for thousands of dollars. In the March 1961 letter to psychiatrist...

At the Very Top, Women Out-Earn Men
 In This Select Group, 
 Women Out-Earn Men 
NEW REsearch
May 11, 2016 12:27 AM CDT

In This Select Group, Women Out-Earn Men

Reverse pay gap exists among CEOs of top 100 companies

(Newser) - Researchers have identified a group of women who actually get paid more than their male counterparts for the same work—but that group consists of just eight people. Executive compensation research firm Equilar looked at the CEOs of the 100 largest public companies and found the eight women among them...

America&#39;s 7 Poorest Cities
 America's 7 Poorest Cities 
May 10, 2016 4:48 PM CDT

America's 7 Poorest Cities

The poorest has a nearly 50% poverty rate

(Newser) - You need to make $125,000 a year to hang in America's richest city , but America's poorest places are a far, far cry from that kind of money. 24/7 Wall Street looked at the median household income, median home value, percentage of adults with at minimum a bachelor'...

Emma Watson Implicated in the Panama Papers

Harry Potter and the Offshore Shell Company

(Newser) - David Cameron, Vladimir Putin, Hermione Granger. Actress Emma Watson has joined the ranks of world leaders implicated in the Panama Papers, the Mirror reports. According to the Independent , Watson was linked to a company based in the British Virgin Islands in a new batch of documents published online Monday. But...

5 Pacific Islands Have Vanished

Study says climate change is to blame

(Newser) - At 94, the leader of the Paurata tribe on Nararo Island has had to abandon his village. "The sea has started to come inland, it forced us to move up to the hilltop and rebuild our village there away from the sea," he says. Nararo is one of...

First-Time Mom Gives Birth at Age 70

Indian woman and her husband, 79, used IVF

(Newser) - An Indian woman says her life is now complete, at the age of 70, because she's finally given birth to her first baby. Daljinder Kaur and her 79-year-old husband have been married 46 years and had nearly given up on having a child, Kaur says. But they saw an...

Fugitive on the Lam for 48 Years Nabbed in Conn.

Robert Stackowitz escaped from Georgia prison work camp in 1968

(Newser) - Since before man landed on the moon, Robert Stackowitz has been on the run after busting out of a prison work camp in Georgia. That half-century run came to a low-key end Monday in Sherman, Conn., where the US Marshals Service tracked down and arrested Stackowitz without incident, NBC News...

Teen's Stellar Theory Leads to Lost Mayan City

His dream is to one day visit the site

(Newser) - William Gadoury has spent a fifth of his life researching the ancient Maya, and the 15-year-old's effort has just paid off in a big way—with the apparent discovery of a lost city. "I did not understand why the Maya built their cities away from rivers, on marginal...

King Tut's Tomb Theory Is Suddenly in Doubt

British Egyptologist's claim wasn't exactly embraced on Sunday

(Newser) - Last August, British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves put forth a theory that grabbed headlines around the world: that King Tutankhamun's tomb is adjacent to secret chambers that hold Queen Nefertiti's remains. A March news conference seemed to lend credence to the claim, with then-Antiquities Minister Mamdouh El-Damaty announcing that...

Professor: I Solved the Case of the Man in the Iron Mask

It wasn't the king's twin brother, says Paul Sonnino

(Newser) - Where Voltaire, Alexandre Dumas, and the team behind 1998's The Man in the Iron Mask failed, Paul Sonnino says he has succeeded. The history professor at UC Santa Barbara claims to have uncovered the true identity of the masked man who, starting in 1669, spent more than 30 years...

Her Doctors Couldn't Solve Her Health Mystery. Facebook Did

Tess Bigelow has incredibly rare USP7 mutation

(Newser) - Social media has helped solve the mystery of a young girl's health problems when her doctors couldn't. Bo Bigelow says his 6-year-old daughter, Tess, is non-verbal, has the mental capacity of an 18-month-old, and suffers gastrointestinal issues, periodic seizures, vision problems, and hip dysplasia—yet multiple tests failed...

Opioid Addicts Getting High on Diarrhea Meds&mdash;Fatally
Opioid Addicts Getting High on Diarrhea Meds—Fatally
in case you missed it
May 8, 2016 6:30 AM CDT

Opioid Addicts Getting High on Diarrhea Meds—Fatally

'As dumb and dangerous as it sounds'

(Newser) - In yet another sign that the US is facing a mounting opioid epidemic, people are trying to get high, or at least temper their opiate withdrawals, off an anti-diarrhea drug commonly sold under the brand name Imodium, reports NPR . In the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine , researchers note an uptick...

Mercury to Make Rare Trip Across the Sun

It happens about 13 times per century

(Newser) - What one astronomer calls a "rare astronomical phenomenon" will play out on Monday. For more than seven hours beginning at 7:12am ET, Mercury will appear as a tiny black dot passing directly in front of the sun, reports National Geographic . Viewers across much of the globe, including North...

These Genes Make Your Dog Look Fat
 These Genes Make 
 Your Dog Look Fat 
study says
May 7, 2016 3:45 PM CDT

These Genes Make Your Dog Look Fat

Your dog might have good reason to be chubby, at least for Labs

(Newser) - Labs are among the most popular dogs in the country, and they're also prone to packing on too many pounds. A new study suggests a scientific reason that helps explain both: a genetic mutation. Researchers at Cambridge found that about 25% of Labs have a gene variant that makes...

There Have Probably Been Billions of Alien Civilizations

Planetary finds have boosted the odds of us not being alone

(Newser) - The odds of us being the first technological civilization the universe has ever seen are similar to those of Elvis and the Loch Ness monster sharing a Powerball jackpot, according to a new study. In a paper published in Astrobiology , researchers updated the famous 1961 Drake equation on the probability...

Why Astronomers Named This Comet After a Cat
 Why Astronomers Named 
 This Comet After a Cat 
in case you missed it
May 7, 2016 6:54 AM CDT

Why Astronomers Named This Comet After a Cat

C/2014 S3, now a 'Manx comet,' has no tail

(Newser) - The discovery was so unusual that at first astronomers didn't know what to call it. A comet bearing the official name C/2014 S3 also bore no tail—which isn't just unusual, but the first ever to be observed by humans, reports Reuters . Moreover, it was dark and rocky,...

From Out of the Deep: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including illicit Imodium use and prayer wielded to fight the bottle

(Newser) - An illness solved through social media and an epic possible shipwreck make the list:
  • One of the Most Important Shipwrecks May Have Been Found : It was an 18th-century ship so distinct that it and its captain are said to have served as an inspiration for Star Trek—and the Endeavour
...

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