discoveries

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

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America's 6 Most Sleep-Deprived States

Hurray for South Dakota—but put on some coffee for Hawaii

(Newser) - While that old rule of thumb of getting eight hours of sleep seems to be constantly updated, the CDC has settled on recommending that adults ages 18-60 get at least seven hours to stay as healthy as possible—and notes if you deprive yourself of that precious shut-eye, you could...

Woman Develops 'Temporary Kleptomania' After Surgery

Brazilian went in for a tummy tuck and boob job, came out with a desire to steal

(Newser) - A woman who went under the knife for a little nip-and-tuck in 2013 ended up with a case of pocket-and-run as well. Per Live Science , the 40-year-old Brazilian had cosmetic surgery on her stomach, arms, and breasts, but just a few days after the procedure, she started having "recurring...

Half of Humans Will Be Nearsighted By 2050
 Half of Humans Will Be 
 Nearsighted by 2050 
NEW STUDY
Feb 18, 2016 8:35 AM CST

Half of Humans Will Be Nearsighted by 2050

Spending more time outdoors could help, but may also increase skin cancer rates

(Newser) - The rate of nearsightedness nearly doubled between the 1970s and early aughts, and jumped five-fold since 2000. At this rate, one in two humans is likely to have myopia by 2050, amounting to a seven-fold increase, researchers from the Brien Holden Vision Institute report in the journal Opthalmology . Chief among...

7K-Year-Old Israel Settlement Oldest Ever Found in Area

2 houses, remains from Chalcolithic period unearthed in northern Jerusalem

(Newser) - Israeli archaeologists have unearthed a 7,000-year-old settlement in northern Jerusalem in what they say is the oldest discovery of its kind in the area, the AP reports. Israel's Antiquities Authority said Wednesday that an excavation exposed two houses with well-preserved remains and floors containing pottery vessels, flint tools,...

Easter Island May Not Have Collapsed Due to War After All

Obsidian artifacts were likely just general tools, not weapons

(Newser) - The ancient civilization of Rapa Nui, more commonly called Easter Island and a part of modern-day Chile, has long been thought to have been brought to its knees before Europeans arrived by violent infighting as precious resources ran out. But now anthropologists from Binghamton University in New York are publishing...

That Grated Parm on Your Pasta May Be 9% Wood

Bloomberg tests find some Parmesan cheese contains zero Parmesan

(Newser) - "Your Parmesan cheese products do not contain any Parmesan cheese" is not a letter you want to get from the Food and Drug Administration if you're a company that manufactures Parmesan cheese products. But that's exactly what a 2013 letter from the FDA to Pennsylvania's Castle...

Cancer Treatment Yields 'Unprecedented' Results

Advanced leukemia patients go into remission

(Newser) - They were leukemia patients with months to live and nothing to lose, so researchers tried a novel therapy involving the engineering of the patients' own cells. Result? For 94% of participants, their symptoms disappeared, reports the Guardian . For those with other types of blood cancers, the response rate was a...

For Fliers, 2015 Was an Unbelievably Safe Year

No fatal jetliner accidents happened globally

(Newser) - It once seemed impossible, but the airline industry has finally pulled off a long-sought-after global goal: It got through an entire year without a single jetliner fatality due to pilot snafus, plane malfunctions, and/or weather conditions, per the Wall Street Journal . Stats issued by the International Air Transport Association called...

150K 'Dead' Penguins Might Just Be Chilling Elsewhere

They may have only abandoned their colony: expert

(Newser) - Troubled by the apparent deaths of 150,000 penguins since a Rhode Island-sized iceberg crashed into Antarctica in 2010? Good news: There might be an alternative explanation for their disappearance. No one has actually found the bodies of 150,000 Adélie penguins that vanished from a colony at Cape...

'Moral Symbols' at Work Can Keep Bad Bosses in Line

'Righteous' quotations, religious items can help workers avoid unethical requests

(Newser) - Could the whole subprime mess have been avoided if bankers had some inspirational Gandhi quotes laying around? That's the question the Chicago Tribune asks after reviewing a study that shows employees who display "moral symbols"—an "ethically righteous quote" or religious item like rosary beads—are...

Messy Kitchens May Tempt Us to Overeat
 Messy Kitchens May 
 Tempt Us to Overeat 
NEW STUDY
Feb 16, 2016 8:40 AM CST

Messy Kitchens May Tempt Us to Overeat

Study suggests you may not want to leave that sink full of dishes

(Newser) - Research has already suggested that people in neat work environments are more likely to opt for a healthy snack than people in cluttered ones. "Messy rooms are, sort of, enabling people to break free from what's expected of them," one researcher from that 2013 study tells NPR...

Author Claims Shakespeare Had Secret 'Bastard' Son

William Davenant would go on to become the poet laureate of England

(Newser) - William Shakespeare wasn't necessarily a doting husband: In his will, he famously left his wife Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, his "second best bed." Now a new biography of the Bard of Avon suggests the playwright had a son with a married tavern mistress,...

Newly Found $20M Diamond Is Size of a Credit Card

404.2-carat diamond thought to be 27th largest ever found

(Newser) - One of the largest diamonds ever recorded has been pulled from the ground in Angola. Australia's Lucapa Diamond Company announced Monday that a 404.2-carat white diamond, about the length of a credit card, had been discovered. The find came at a 1,148 square-mile site that has since...

Ancient Flower Species Found Trapped in Amber

Perfect specimen could be up to 45M years old

(Newser) - A beautiful and probably deadly plant preserved in amber for years has turned out to be a species completely new to science. The new species, which has been named Strychnos electri, was identified from two tiny flowers perfectly preserved in amber found in a mine in the Dominican Republic. It...

Luxury Cells Uncovered After Deadly Prison Riot

Mexican prison had saunas and a bar

(Newser) - Vast luxuries such as saunas, a bar, food stands, and appliances were discovered by authorities entering a prison in northern Mexico to investigate a riot that killed 49 inmates . Nuevo Leon state authorities said in a statement Sunday that the cells inside Monterrey's Topo Chico prison were outfitted with...

Heartburn Meds May Include Scary Health Risk
 Heartburn Meds May 
 Raise Risk of Dementia 
new study
Feb 15, 2016 7:00 PM CST

Heartburn Meds May Raise Risk of Dementia

Study raises concerns about proton-pump inhibitor drugs

(Newser) - Certain heartburn drugs have already been linked to heath woes including heart disease and kidney disease. Now a study in JAMA Neurology says those drugs—proton-pump inhibitors like Prilosec, Prevacid, and Nexium—may also boost the chance of dementia, UPI reports. Analyzing a German health insurer's data on nearly...

Cougars Increasingly Making Meals of Dogs, Cats

California pet owners warned to take precautions

(Newser) - Wildlife officials in California have a disturbing revelation for pet owners: Most mountain lions in the region seem to have acquired a taste for dogs and cats. As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, that insight comes from an analysis of the stomach contents of mountain lions legally killed last year....

For the Obese, Objects Are Closer Than They Appear

The obese see distances as at least 10% greater than those of average weight

(Newser) - The very weight we carry can change our perception of the space around us, reports the Guardian , with obese people seeing distances as being at least 10% greater than those of average weight do, report researchers from Colorado State University Fort Collins. In the journal Acta Psychologica they report that...

John Paul Letters Show 'Intense' Friendship With Married Woman

32-year correspondence includes 'deeply personal' notes, pics

(Newser) - Photos and more than 350 "intense" letters from Pope John Paul II to a married woman he corresponded with for more than three decades have been found at the National Library of Poland, Deutsche Welle reports, via a BBC documentary. The notes and images—often showing the pontiff, who...

14 Years Later, They Found Her Purse

Julie Curry's lost bag turns up in the ceiling of a bank in Oklahoma

(Newser) - In a case of better late than never, a purse that went missing more than a decade ago has been found in the ceiling of a bank in Oklahoma City. Now the bag is headed back to its owner, Julie Curry, who now lives in Cherokee, Kan., KFOR reports. Curry'...

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