discoveries

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

Stories 2401 - 2420 | << Prev   Next >>

Hospitals Toss $3B a Year in Cancer Drugs

Non-cancer drugs can be culprits, too

(Newser) - Some cancer drugs are barely wasted at all. Teva Pharmaceuticals' Treanda, used to treat leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, comes in four separate dosage packages, so only 1% of the drug is typically thrown away. But with 18 of the top 20 cancer drugs sold in only one or two...

Being Tired May Make You Snack Like a Pot Smoker

When sleep-deprived, brain may release more of chemical that keeps you snacking

(Newser) - If you've wondered why you nosh like crazy after a night of tossing and turning, scientists think they've figured it out: Your brain may compensate for the lack of sleep by releasing chemicals similar to those that pot smokers breathe in, resulting in the tired person's version...

Scientists Find Gene Linked to Gray Hair

It's the first time one has been found in humans

(Newser) - Those unhappy with their gray hair now have to turn to a bottle of dye to cover it up, but a new study raises the possibility of being able to prevent hair from going gray in the first place. London researchers have identified a gene that causes hair to lose...

Chimps Are Inexplicably Hurling Rocks at Trees

There are theories, of course—including that it might be part of a 'sacred' ritual

(Newser) - Chimpanzees in West Africa are throwing rocks at trees, and why they're doing it remains a mystery, Discovery reports. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology say this chimp behavior has never before been documented and that it may shed some light on the species' cultural customs—...

What Astronaut Scott Kelly Will Do as Soon as He Lands

His record-breaking trip was amazing

(Newser) - Scott Kelly has been hurtling through the cosmos on the International Space Station for nearly a year (340 days to be exact—a record), but on Tuesday, the NASA astronaut and his partner, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, will finally head home. ScienceAlert has the emotional video of Kelly handing the...

Plastic-Laden Plankton Poop Polluting the Ocean Depths
Plankton Poop Could Now
Do Harm Instead of Good
NEW STUDY
Mar 1, 2016 7:00 AM CST

Plankton Poop Could Now Do Harm Instead of Good

Plastic is moving around ocean waters via feces

(Newser) - The amount of plastic in our oceans is now popping up as gigantic islands and set to outpace the global fish population by 2050. But it's also settling ever so slowly on the ocean floor in the form of plankton poop. And because plastic-laden poop is lighter and falls...

35-Pound Tumor Removed From Woman's Abdomen

Irianita Rojas Rasma couldn't work or study with growth she had for more than 8 years

(Newser) - For more than eight years, Irianita Rojas Rasma carried around a tumor in her abdomen that she never thought she'd get rid of. But doctors in Lima, Peru, finally removed the cancerous growth—which had developed into a 35-pound mass—from the 22-year-old woman during a Feb. 20 surgery,...

Scientists Await Rare 'Dragon' Birth in Slovenia

3 olm eggs show promise in Postojna Cave

(Newser) - When humans in the 15th century encountered olms—rare amphibians that have been roaming Earth's caves for 200 million years—they thought they were baby dragons. Today we know little more about the blind creatures than our ancestors did. Olms inhabit the cave rivers of the Balkans, grow up...

Historians: Hitler&#39;s Manhood Was Small, Deformed


 Historians: 
 Hitler's Manhood 
 Was Deformed 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 28, 2016 3:15 PM CST

Historians: Hitler's Manhood Was Deformed

The Nazi leader supposedly suffered from hypospadias

(Newser) - A seedy British song written in 1939 poked fun at Nazi leaders' testicles, and kicked off with the line "Hitler has only got one ball." According to historians Jonathan Mayo and Emma Craigie, that's only, well, half the story. Their 2015 book Hitler's Last Day: Minute ...

Woman Finds Rare Pearl in Clam Dish
 Woman Finds 
 Rare Pearl 
 in Clam Dish 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 28, 2016 10:03 AM CST

Woman Finds Rare Pearl in Clam Dish

Quahog purple pearl likely worth about $600

(Newser) - When Lindsay Hasz bit into her medley of seafood and shellfish at Montalcino Ristorante Italiano in Issaquah, Wash., she thought she might have broken a tooth. The culprit: a small, purple pebble-like object embedded in one of her clams. "It was quite jarring," Hasz tells KOMO News . At...

Meet &#39;Earth&#39;s First Animal&#39;
 Meet 'Earth's First Animal' 
NEW STUDY
Feb 28, 2016 9:07 AM CST

Meet 'Earth's First Animal'

Sea sponges have been around for 640M years, says MIT study

(Newser) - Way before humans, sharks, or dinosaurs, the sea sponge was very likely the first animal on Earth. That's according to a PNAS study out of MIT concluding that a molecule in 640 million-year-old rocks came from the simple creature. Assuming the researchers are right, that means the multi-celled organisms...

Survey: Millennials Are Too Lazy to Eat Cereal
 Survey: Millennials Are 
 Too Lazy to Eat Cereal 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 28, 2016 7:03 AM CST

Survey: Millennials Are Too Lazy to Eat Cereal

'Bowls don't clean themselves'

(Newser) - It seems millennials are waging a new generational war—and the enemy is Cap'n Crunch. The Washington Post reports the sale of breakfast cereals in the US is down nearly 30% over the past 15 years. Part of that is growing preferences for things like smoothies and protein bars,...

How Pretty Faces Affect Your Memory
 How Pretty Faces 
 Affect Your 
 Memory 
studies say
Feb 27, 2016 7:00 PM CST

How Pretty Faces Affect Your Memory

Men should look at hotties on quiz night, apparently

(Newser) - Want to give your memory a boost? Trying gazing at a good-looking person of the opposite sex—if you're a man, at least. Two experiments conducted as part of a study published in December 2015 show that guys who look briefly at an image of an attractive woman fare...

Reaction to Smelly Shirts Reveals Our Own Prejudices
Reaction to Smelly Shirts Reveals Our Own Prejudices
in case you missed it
Feb 27, 2016 4:05 PM CST

Reaction to Smelly Shirts Reveals Our Own Prejudices

Sweaty garments are less revolting when we're told those in our own group wore them

(Newser) - There's no stink like our own stink: We are more forgiving of the disgusting smells of those we have been told are members of our own group than of outsiders. So say researchers at St. Andrews University after pushing stinky gym shirts into the noses of people who were...

Bees, Butterflies May Go Way of the Dinosaur

United Nations report says world crops are at risk

(Newser) - Don't care much about birds and bees going extinct? OK, but you may have to forgo popular foods (like blueberries, apples, and coffee) that depend on creatures that pollinate plants, the Christian Science Monitor reports. According to a UN scientific report approved by 124 nations, the coming extinction of...

Wild Gorillas Make Up Songs While They Eat
 Wild Gorillas Make Up 
 Songs While They Eat 
study says
Feb 27, 2016 12:00 PM CST

Wild Gorillas Make Up Songs While They Eat

Dominant males do most of the singing and humming

(Newser) - Do you make happy sounds when you're eating a tasty meal? If so, you're not alone. Researchers have discovered that gorillas sing and hum while they eat, New Scientist reports, and the findings (published this month in PLOS One ) could provide insights into how language evolved in...

All the Buzz: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including an Earhart plane discovery of sorts

(Newser) - Phantom vibrations and eerie sounds from the lunar far side make the list:
  • Seas Rising at Fastest Rate in Nearly 3K Years : It's "extremely likely" that sea levels rose faster in the 20th century than at any other time in the previous 2,700 years "and the
...

People With Psych Disorders Marry Each Other

Researchers analyze health data of more than 700K people in Sweden

(Newser) - When looking for love, people with psychiatric disorders tend to look toward their own, one new study suggests. Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden report in JAMA Psychiatry that they combed the health histories of 707,263 people admitted to hospitals in Sweden between 1973 and 2009 and who...

Working Mouse Sperm Created From Stem Cells

Step could someday lead to treatment for infertile men

(Newser) - Scientists have produced rudimentary mouse sperm from stem cells in the laboratory, a step that may lead to a treatment for infertile men. If the technique pans out in people, doctors might someday be able to turn skin cells from a man into sperm that can pass along his DNA...

NASA Scientist: I Can Get Humans to Mars in a Month

'No known reason why we cannot do this'

(Newser) - A century ago, the first transatlantic flight took about 23 days. Soon, we could reach Mars in about as long. The key: perfecting laser technology. NASA scientist Philip Lubin says that by swapping out the current fuel-based rocket propulsion system with one relying on photons would significantly boost our space...

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