discoveries

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

Stories 421 - 440 | << Prev   Next >>

Author May Have Cracked Beethoven's 'Elise' Mystery

Book argues that 'Fur Elise' wasn't actually written for anyone named Elise

(Newser) - You've heard Beethoven's instantly recognizable "Fur Elise" somewhere, if only in a ring tone or a movie. As the New York Times put it in one appreciation, "Even if you don't know 'Fur Elise,' you know 'Fur Elise.'" Now, an...

Big Dig in Norway Turns Up 'Dream of All Runologists'

Archaeologists announce discovery of world's oldest runestone—perhaps as old as Jesus

(Newser) - Archaeologists say they've discovered the oldest known runestone—a stone inscribed with runic letters, which represent the oldest known alphabet in Scandinavia—perhaps as old as Jesus Christ. The University of Oslo's Museum of Cultural History says it's "the oldest datable runestone" and that its inscription,...

Tomb Dating to Dynasty That Included Tut Is Unearthed

Archaeologists find it in Luxor, Egypt

(Newser) - Archaeologists in Egypt appear to have discovered another tomb belonging to an ancient royal. An Egyptian-British team discovered it in the city of Luxor on the west bank of the Nile, in the area of the famous Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens, reports AFP . A government...

Researchers: This Is 'Smoking Gun' on an Exxon Cover-Up

Oil giant made eerily accurate predictions on climate change, then misled public, scientists say

(Newser) - Who needs Nostradamus when we've got Exxon? The Guardian reports that "a trove of internal documents and research papers" has long established that Exxon, now known as ExxonMobil, knew since the 1970s of the dangers of global warming, and that other oil companies acknowledged the same decades before...

Scientists May Have Found a Secret of Roman Concrete
Secret of Roman Concrete
May Have Been Revealed
new study
Jan 9, 2023 9:55 AM CST

Secret of Roman Concrete May Have Been Revealed

Study suggests 'lime clasts' helped the material heal itself

(Newser) - Researchers may have uncovered a big reason behind the remarkable durability of concrete from ancient Rome. Writing in the journal Science Advances , scientists say they took a closer look at white chunks in the concrete known as lime clasts, reports Ars Technica . These have been spotted before and largely chalked...

Earliest Human Writing Allegedly Found in Ice Age Cave Art
'Person Off the Street'
Discovers Earliest
Human Writing
in case you missed it
Jan 8, 2023 11:20 AM CST

'Person Off the Street' Discovers Earliest Human Writing

Furniture conservator Ben Bacon helps identify what's touted as ice age proto-writing

(Newser) - Recording the reproductive cycles of animals in cave art likely helped hunter-gatherers in Europe survive during the last ice age some 20,000 years ago, according to researchers—a discovery made in part by "effectively a person off the street." Londoner Ben Bacon was intrigued by small dots,...

When Did Humans Cross Land Bridge? Perhaps Immediately

It emerged later than previously believed, just under 36K years ago: study

(Newser) - New research indicates the ice sheets that covered North America during the last ice age developed "surprisingly quickly and much later in the glacial cycle than previous studies had suggested"—and the implications could be big. There's been much debate about when the Bering Land Bridge that...

Scientists Report Success on Blood Test for Alzheimer's

Study suggests procedure could eliminate the need for brain imaging or painful spinal taps

(Newser) - A new blood test has the potential to make it easier, cheaper, and less painful to diagnose Alzheimer's. Researchers writing in the journal Brain say their test fared well in a study involving 600 patients in picking up a telltale marker of brain neurodegeneration, per a news release . A...

Sorry, Guys, Women Get Empathy Better Than You Do
In 57 Nations, Women Outscore
Men on Empathy, 57-0
new study
Dec 27, 2022 8:32 AM CST

In 57 Nations, Women Outscore Men on Empathy, 57-0

Largest study of its kind confirms the point

(Newser) - The largest study of its kind has confirmed what researchers—and probably most people—already suspected: Women are more empathetic than men. The study out of the University of Cambridge and published in PNAS had 300,000 people from 57 countries take a particular test: Participants looked at photos of...

Scientists May Have Solved a Big COVID Mystery
Scientists May Have
Solved a Big COVID Mystery
in case you missed it
Dec 25, 2022 11:31 AM CST

Scientists May Have Solved a Big COVID Mystery

They say loss of smell might be from inflammation-driving T-cells helping to nix critical neurons in nose

(Newser) - Loss of taste and smell are among the symptoms of COVID that stick around after the infection itself has subsided, and now scientists think they may be on to why the latter happens. It may all come down to an unusual immune response in which T-cells that cause inflammation invade...

When Relationships Get Rocky, 'Thank You' Really Helps

Study: Gratitude has protective effects against poor communication, financial stress

(Newser) - Gratitude may be the best gift you can give your partner this holiday season, or so suggests a recent study that looked at the impact gratitude has on relationships. A team led by Allen W. Barton of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign spent 15 months studying 316 African American couples,...

They Used to Come to 'Salome Cave' to Pray. Now, a Big Dig

Inside the 2,000-year-old burial cave said to be for Jesus' midwife: lots of beautiful oil lamps

(Newser) - An ancient tomb traditionally associated with Jesus' midwife is being excavated anew by archaeologists in the hills southwest of Jerusalem, Israel's antiquities authority said Tuesday. The intricately decorated Jewish burial cave complex dates to around the first century AD, but it was later associated by local Christians with Salome,...

Black or Brown Bears, Sure. But What About Cinnamon?

Study identifies genetic variant that makes black bears look like grizzlies

(Newser) - Those who traipse around the woods may be familiar with an old saying about what to do if they encounter a bear: “If it’s black, fight back; if it’s brown, lie down; if it’s white, say good night.” Nowhere, however, does the word "cinnamon"...

Science May Have a Remedy for Your Fogged-Up Glasses

Researchers say an invisible, super-thin coating of gold could keep lenses heated, fogginess at bay

(Newser) - If you wear eyeglasses, you're unwillingly part of a select club that experiences a particular annoyance whenever the weather gets cold or you have to don a face mask: glasses that fog up. Scientists out of Switzerland, however, are excited about what they say could be the solution to...

Beneath This Early Cezanne Painting, a 'Huge Discovery'

X-ray reveals what Cincinnati Art Museum conservator believes to be a self-portrait

(Newser) - The Cincinnati Art Museum believes it's found a self portrait of Paul Cezanne hidden beneath a still-life painting that's been in its collection for nearly 70 years. Chief conservator Serena Urry was inspecting Cezanne's 1865 oil painting "Still Life with Bread and Eggs" when she spotted...

CDC Study Confirms You Can Die From Long COVID
CDC Study Confirms
Long COVID Can Kill You
new study
Dec 14, 2022 12:36 PM CST

CDC Study Confirms Long COVID Can Kill You

0.3% of COVID deaths in first 30 months of pandemic involved long COVID

(Newser) - Long COVID can kill, or so found what's thought to be the first nationwide study on the subject. The CDC analyzed death certificates in the National Vital Statistics System from the period Jan. 1, 2020, to June 30, 2022, that had a diagnostic code for COVID-19; there were 1,...

Female Snakes Have Had a Clitoris All This Time
Female Snakes Have Had
a Clitoris All This Time
new study
Dec 14, 2022 11:36 AM CST

Female Snakes Have Had a Clitoris All This Time

Actually, 2 clitorises

(Newser) - Male snakes have not one but two penises, called hemipenes, a fact that's been established since the 1800s. It wasn't until 2022 that their female counterparts' sex organs—two clitorises—were identified. The discovery of their hemiclitores is detailed in a new study published in Proceedings of the ...

Shipwreck in Norwegian Lake Could Be From Middle Ages

More vessels likely to be discovered during sonar scan of Lake Mjosa

(Newser) - A survey of the biggest lake in Norway has revealed an almost perfectly preserved shipwreck, possibly from the Middle Ages. The 33-foot-long wooden ship is believed to have sunk between the 1300s and 1850 based on signs of a central rudder at what appears to be the ship's stern,...

What Sleeping With a Weighted Blanket Does to Your Brain
What Sleeping With
a Weighted Blanket
Does to Your Brain
in case you missed it
Dec 11, 2022 12:54 PM CST

What Sleeping With a Weighted Blanket Does to Your Brain

Night use boosts production of melatonin, small study finds

(Newser) - Weighted vests and blankets have been used for decades to induce calm. But how do they work? Researchers may now have part of the answer. Christian Benedict, an associate professor of pharmacology at Sweden's Uppsala University, had heard of "the magic effects of the weighted blanket"—including...

Historian: Murderous Pirate Hid Out in US Colonies

Jim Bailey says Arabic coins, newly surfaced documents place Henry Every there

(Newser) - One tarnished silver coin at a time, the ground is yielding new evidence that in the late 1600s, one of the world's most ruthless pirates wandered the American colonies with impunity. Newly surfaced documents also strengthen the case that English buccaneer Henry Every—the target of the first worldwide...

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