discoveries

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

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Mysterious Mounds Attributed to New Source

Theory about soil, erosion may not be sexy, but it's convincing

(Newser) - The mystery of the mounds lives on. A mere six months after researchers said computer modeling proved pocket gophers , over the course of several hundred years of scurrying and burrowing, formed the bizarre-patterned earthen "Mima mounds" in Washington state, a new team of researchers claims that plants are in...

'Magic Island' Spotted on Saturn Moon

Mysterious bright spot may be geological activity on Titan

(Newser) - Astronomers are feeling giddy about a flash of light on a very odd moon, phys.org reports. Radar images show that a bright object appeared briefly on Saturn's moon Titan, possible proof of geological activity on a lunar surface that boasts wind, rain, lakes, and seas (though liquid methane...

Here's How Stress Causes Heart Attacks

It turns out your body thinks you're sick or wounded

(Newser) - It's common knowledge that stress can lead to a heart attack, but scientists have never actually known how—until now. It turns out that when you're stressed, your body starts overproducing white blood cells, or leukocytes, as if you had a wound or infection, researchers from the Harvard...

Arthritis Drug Makes Hairless Man Very Hairy
Arthritis Drug Makes
Hairless Man Very Hairy
in case you missed it
Jun 22, 2014 7:00 PM CDT

Arthritis Drug Makes Hairless Man Very Hairy

25-year-old grew full head of hair, plus everything from eyebrows to armpit hair

(Newser) - It turns out an FDA-approved rheumatoid arthritis drug might just cure baldness—at least the form caused by a rare immune disease. During an eight-month trial of the drug, a 25-year-old man whose body was nearly hairless grew, well, a lot of it, including plenty atop his head, armpit hair,...

&#39;End of the World&#39; Plague Remains Found in Egypt

 'End of the World' 
 Plague Victims 
 Found in Egypt 
in case you missed it
Jun 21, 2014 3:47 PM CDT

'End of the World' Plague Victims Found in Egypt

Likely measles or smallpox, it struck one writer as apocalyptic

(Newser) - Saint Cyprian described it in the third century AD as a plague that signaled the end of the world—and archaeologists have now uncovered its remnants in Egypt. An Italian team has published the results of its 15 years of research in ancient Thebes (today, Luxor), where a funerary complex...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

How do self-filling cavities sound?

(Newser) - A unique trait about spiders that seems hard to fathom and a geologic milestone make the list this week:
  • Spiders Able to Catch, Devour Fish : Spiders are known for hunting insects, of course. But fish? Not only is the answer yes, the spiders are rather good at it. So say
...

Skulls From 'Pit of Bones' May Hold Evolution Clues

Neanderthals may have developed their distinctive jaws before their brains got big

(Newser) - Since 1984, scientists have been carefully removing, assembling, and analyzing thousands of bone fragments from the aptly-named "Pit of Bones" cave in Spain, home to the largest collection of ancient human fossils ever found. Now, they say their analysis of 17 skulls thought to be some 430,000 years...

20 Never-Seen Poems of Pablo Neruda Discovered

They were found in boxes, said to be of 'extraordinary quality'

(Newser) - Someone combing through old boxes belonging to Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda made an amazing discovery: 20 unpublished poems from his prime years of productivity, reports the Guardian . His publisher says they are of "extraordinary quality," and one academic says they are full of "the imaginative power, the...

Spiders Able to Catch, Devour Fish
 Spiders Able to 
 Catch, Devour Fish 
new study
Jun 19, 2014 6:03 AM CDT

Spiders Able to Catch, Devour Fish

Many species of spiders spanning 6 continents hunt, feast on fish

(Newser) - If you aren't already arachnophobic, this might be enough to turn you: Spiders don't just hunt insects; they also like to fish, and are apparently rather good at it. So say scientists who have observed at least 18 species of spiders on every continent but Antarctica hunting and...

Bears Join List of Animals Who Perform Oral Sex

Two male brown bears in captivity in Croatia regularly engage in fellatio

(Newser) - Add one more creature to the list of animals known to engage in oral sex: A pair of male brown bears living in captivity in a sanctuary in Croatia have been observed engaging in fellatio regularly over the six years they were studied, report researchers in the journal Zoo Biology...

Introducing the Earth's Most Abundant Mineral

It's called bridgmanite, and it just received its name

(Newser) - Quick, name the Earth's most abundant mineral. If you uttered "bridgmanite," that means you're clearly up on your geologic news because the mineral just got its name this month. In fact, that's because scientists finally saw it for the first time. As LiveScience explains, the...

Soon, Your Cavities May Fill Themselves

Scientists discover replacement for fillings

(Newser) - What if instead of having a dentist drill and fill your cavities, you could have your teeth painlessly heal themselves? A team of scientists says it has developed a technique that does precisely that, the Guardian reports. The process, called "Electrically Accelerated and Enhanced Remineralization," uses a tiny...

Beneath Picasso Masterpiece: Mystery Man

'The Blue Room' was painted on top of another portrait

(Newser) - "The Blue Room" is one of Pablo Picasso's first masterpieces, painted in Paris toward the start of his blue period in 1901—and, researchers now reveal, apparently painted on top of another painting. Scientists and art experts using infrared imagery first identified a man's face hidden beneath...

To Regenerate Immune System: Fast for 3 Days?

Body makes new white blood cells: researchers

(Newser) - Scientists in California believe they have a tip for those with weakened immune systems: Fast for three days. The brief period "flips a regenerative switch" in the body, the University of Southern California researchers say, via the Telegraph : "It gives the 'OK' for stem cells to go...

We Got Earth's Birthday Wrong by 60M Years

Same goes for the moon, say scientists

(Newser) - The planet we're living on is about 60 million years older than previously thought. So say scientists in France who studied quartz from Australia and South Africa that dates back about 3 billion years, reports Phys.org . The ratio of gases in the quartz compared to today's ratios...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including the answer to an old question about the moon

(Newser) - A common ancestor for vertebrates and the discovery of a massive underground ocean make the list:
  • Your Jaw May Come From This Little Fish : Introducing Metaspriggina, a minnow-sized fish that lived about 500 million years ago and appears to occupy a crucial branch of your family tree. Scientists say the
...

Water 'Missing for Decades' Found 400 Miles Beneath US

But the water is neither liquid, ice, nor vapor: researchers

(Newser) - Four hundred miles beneath the United States, there appears to be enough water to fill all our oceans—almost three times. Researchers have for the first time discovered direct evidence of the water, which exists as a fourth form: not liquid, not ice, not vapor, but hydrogen and oxygen molecules...

Bachelor Party Unearths Ancient Remains

Revelers appear to have stumbled upon an intact stegomastodon skull

(Newser) - Many bachelor parties' participants get more than they bargained for, but for one group of revelers at Elephant Butte Lake State Park in New Mexico, what they got on Monday could turn out to be historic. "As we are cruising by we see ... what seems to be a large...

Your Jaw May Come From This Ancient Fish

Minnow-sized creature had something akin to one 500M years ago

(Newser) - Introducing Metaspriggina, a minnow-sized fish that lived about 500 million years ago and appears to occupy a crucial branch of your family tree. Scientists say the creature might just be the ancestor of nearly all vertebrates, reports LiveScience . The revelation comes after study of dozens of remarkably well-preserved Metaspriggina fossils...

Long Sought-After Relic Found in Puget Sound?

900-pound anchor could be the one lost on a famous expedition in 1792

(Newser) - Six years after first discovering it, "amateur sleuths" rejoiced Monday after bringing a 900-pound anchor thought to be lost in 1792 to the surface in Washington state's Puget Sound. They hope to prove they've found the stream anchor that was reportedly lost exactly 222 years earlier, on...

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