discoveries

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

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Study Finds Young Infants Actually Don&#39;t Imitate People
 No, Your Baby  
 Isn't Imitating You 
study says
May 6, 2016 7:00 PM CDT

No, Your Baby Isn't Imitating You

But you might be imitating her

(Newser) - Contradicting parenting websites and books—and probably a bunch of overly proud new parents—researchers have concluded that infants in the first weeks of life actually don't imitate facial expressions or hand gestures. In fact, the study suggests that it's the adults who are imitating the babies, reports...

The Answer to Keeping Your Fruit Fresh? Silk

Strawberries were still "juicy and firm" after a week

(Newser) - The days of buying fruit with the best of intentions only to watch it molder on the counter may be over. In a study published Friday in Scientific Reports, engineers at Tufts University report using silk to keep fruit fresh for a week without refrigeration. They dipped strawberries and bananas...

Bracelet Promises to Shock Your Bad Habits Away

The human version of a dog shock collar has yet to be studied for long-term effects

(Newser) - Some people will try just about anything to break a bad habit—and that now includes a gadget that promises to help people retrain their behaviors using mild vibrations and painful zaps. Named after the Russian physiologist who introduced the world to Pavlovian classical conditioning and its subset aversion therapy,...

Scientists Have Big Plans for da Vinci's DNA ... If They Can Find It

His remains are believed to be in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert

(Newser) - It's a project scientists say Leonardo da Vinci would have loved. Researchers plan to sequence the DNA of the Renaissance genius to discover more about his amazing abilities, and possibly even what he really looked like, the Independent reports. Da Vinci, however, wasn't trapped in amber Jurassic Park-style,...

The World Has a New Lightning Capital

Sorry, Congo Basin

(Newser) - Like watching lightning? Book your next vacation for Venezuela. NASA has determined that country's Lake Maracaibo is the new lightning capital of the world. Using 16 years of data from the satellite-based Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS), scientists determined Lake Maracaibo averages about 233 lightning flashes per square kilometer every...

Scientists: Prayer Can Help Alcoholics Through Temptation

Small study uses brain scans to demonstrate changes after prayer vs. reading newspaper

(Newser) - Does prayer have the power to help recovering alcoholics squash temptation? A small new study out of the NYU Langone Medical Center finds that at least among 20 long-term Alcoholics Anonymous members who reported no cravings in the week leading up to the test, prayer reduced cravings that arose when...

OxyContin&#39;s Biggest Claim Can Result in &#39;Hell&#39; for Users
OxyContin's Biggest Claim Can Result in 'Hell' for Users
investigation
May 5, 2016 11:18 AM CDT

OxyContin's Biggest Claim Can Result in 'Hell' for Users

LA Times: It often wears off before 12 hours, creating big problems

(Newser) - One of the huge selling points of OxyContin is that it boasts of keeping users free of pain for 12 hours, thus allowing them to sleep through the night. But an investigation by the Los Angeles Times finds that the claim doesn't hold true for many patients, and when...

San Andreas Fault 'Locked, Loaded, Ready to Roll': Scientist

Meaning Southern California is due for a major quake

(Newser) - It's the most well-known US fault, but the San Andreas Fault's southern section hasn't been behind a major earthquake since a 7.9-magnitude temblor in 1857—and that's got Thomas Jordan worried, the Los Angeles Times reports. "The springs on the San Andreas system have...

Human Embryos Just Survived 13 Days in a Petri Dish

Opens the door to study what happens in the mysterious, critical first days of life

(Newser) - It's a milestone that's at once being called groundbreaking and a Pandora's box: Scientists at Cambridge University surprised even themselves by growing embryos for 13 days outside the womb—one day short of a longstanding legal limit that's never been pushed up against because embryos failed...

Goal of Clinical Trial: Reverse Human Death

Researchers hope to revive brains of the clinically dead

(Newser) - Scientists are predicting "the eventual reversal of death in our lifetime," and a new clinical trial could take us one step closer to that goal. The National Institutes of Health has approved "the first trial of its kind" by US biotech company Bioquark to attempt to revive...

For Insomnia, Toss the Sleeping Pills, Try Therapy

It may require more work, but researchers say the evidence supports pursuing therapy over pills

(Newser) - The American College of Physicians is issuing new guidelines on how to treat insomnia based on evidence suggesting that the side effects of sleeping pills are "underestimated," while the success of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT-I) is compelling. "The evidence is quite strong that cognitive behavioral therapy is...

America's No. 3 Killer Is Medical Errors, Says Study

Analysis finds 700 people succumb to them daily

(Newser) - Imagine wiping out the entire population of Orlando, Fla ., each year. That's essentially what medical errors are doing, according to an analysis of four studies on the topic that was published in the BMJ on Tuesday. It finds that about 9.5% of Americans who die each year are...

Cranky When Flying? Blame First Class

First-class cabin brings sense of inequality: study

(Newser) - Limited leg room is harder to bear when passengers know others are comfortably sipping bubbly nearby. That's the takeaway from a University of Toronto study that examined 1,500 "air rage" incidents from a single airline and found incidents rise on flights with a first-class cabin, particularly if...

A Third of Antibiotic Prescriptions Are 'Inappropriate': CDC

And potentially dangerous, as they create drug-resistant bacteria

(Newser) - Scientists have been concerned for some time about "Phantom Menace"-type superbugs that aren't fazed by meds. The latest CDC data finds that 2 million people a year in the US are infected with bacteria resistant to antibiotics, and at least 23,000 die directly from those infections....

Study Determines How Many Best Friends We Have

4 ... or maybe 5

(Newser) - British anthropologist Robin Dunbar made a name for himself in the '90s when he hypothesized that there is a strong correlation among primates between brain size and social circles—and he most notably suggested that we humans can only really maintain close relationships with five people, reports MIT Technology...

'One of the Most Important Shipwrecks' May Be Found

James Cook's Endeavour may have been located in RI's Newport Harbor

(Newser) - The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project calls it "one of the most important shipwrecks in world history," 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 may finally have been found. Explorer Capt....

Newly Found 'Nazca Line' Depicts Weird Creature

Japanese researchers make discovery in Peru

(Newser) - Japanese researchers have added to the "Nazca line" mystery by uncovering yet another ancient geoglyph in Peru, the Smithsonian reports. The 98-foot-long bas-relief appears to depict a mythological creature that's sticking out its tongue, has many legs, and a body covered in spots, per a press release . What'...

3 Surprise Planets Could Host ETs

Scientists spot them orbiting a dwarf star

(Newser) - Astronomers searching for life beyond our solar system may need to look no farther than a little, feeble, nearby star. A Belgian-led team reported Monday that it's discovered three Earth-sized planets orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star less than 40 light-years away. It's the first time planets have been...

After 16 Years, Mountain Gives Up Climbing Legend's Body

Alex Lowe, cameraman perished in Tibet avalanche

(Newser) - The frozen remains of one of the greatest American mountain climbers who ever lived have been found on the mountain where he died. Alex Lowe was 40 years old and considered the best in the world when he died alongside cameraman David Bridges in October 1999, the AP reports. They...

Ancient Proof of Mother's Love Unearthed in Taiwan

4,800-year-old human fossil is of mother, baby

(Newser) - Archaeologists in Taiwan were "shocked" to unearth a 4,800-year-old human fossil of a mother cradling an infant in her arms. The discovery, among 48 sets of remains excavated from graves in the Taichung area, represents the earliest trace of human activity in central Taiwan, according to Reuters . "...

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