discoveries

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

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Study Finds Link Between Pesticide, Alzheimer's

Higher levels of DDT found in the blood of Alzheimer's patients

(Newser) - The pesticide DDT was banned in the US in 1972, but it's still in use in some locations around the globe, with the World Health Organization continuing to recommend it as a method of controlling malaria. But new research suggests a downright ( and yet another ) unhealthy angle...

Plague, Black Death Were Different, and That's Bad News

A new strain could rise up that's just as deadly: scientists

(Newser) - The Plague of Justinian and the Black Death arose from separate bacteria strains, researchers say—and that's not a good thing, because if distinct plagues have ravaged the human population before, they could come up again, LiveScience reports. A group of researchers came to this conclusion by digging up...

70M Years Old? No, Grand Canyon Mostly Just a Kid

Much of it is just 5M years old, geologists find

(Newser) - The Grand Canyon is nowhere near the grand old age of 70 million years that earlier studies claimed, according to new research. "The Colorado River found a path and carved the entire canyon 5 (million) to 6 million years ago," says a geologist who used data measuring the...

Dogs Pass Oldest-Known Cancer by Having Sex

The venereal tumor dates back 11,000 years, say UK scientists

(Newser) - Scientists have spotted the oldest-known living form of cancer, and it's an odd one—passed sexually from dog to dog over the past 11,000 years, the Smithsonian reports. By decoding the cancer's genome, British researchers found that it dates back to a dog with short, dark fur...

You'll Perform Better If You Think You Slept Well

Sleep is subject to the placebo effect: study

(Newser) - Got a big day ahead? You're better off thinking you slept well, even if you didn't, a study suggests. Researchers told subjects a normal night of sleep consisted of about 20% to 25% REM sleep. Less than 20%, the subjects heard, meant a worse performance on cognitive tests,...

How We Get Maple Syrup May Change in a Huge Way

Think farms, not forests, and much bigger yields

(Newser) - Maple syrup has traditionally been a product of forests, not farms—but a new discovery could change that. Researchers found to their surprise that mature maple trees weren't necessary to generate large volumes of sap. Instead, the stuff can come from saplings with their tops removed, the University of...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a dwarf planet that seems to have a ton of fresh water

(Newser) - A surprise discovery of water vapor in deep space and some clever detective work about a Monet painting make the list:
  • Sign of Life? Vapor Rises on Dwarf Planet: There may be a new contender for the likeliest place to host life elsewhere in our solar system—and it's
...

Most Common Soda Color Could Pose Health Risk

FDA taking closer look at caramel color

(Newser) - The caramel color widely used in soft drinks contains a chemical that could be dangerous to your health but isn't listed in the ingredients, a Consumer Reports investigation finds. Some kinds of caramel color—the world's most widely used food coloring—contain a potentially carcinogenic chemical known as...

Scientists Determine Exact Minute Monet Made Painting

That would be 4:53pm on Feb. 5, 1883

(Newser) - That Claude Monet painted his classic Étretat: Sunset in 1883 is old news. That he painted it at precisely 4:53pm on Feb. 5 of that year is what's new—the result of a nifty bit of sleuthing by researchers at Texas State, reports the Telegraph . The key...

First in a Century: New River Dolphin Species

Rapids separated it from Amazon river system

(Newser) - River dolphins worldwide are rare and endangered, but a new species has been added to their number for the first time in almost a century. Scientists in Brazil, writing in the journal PLOS One , say the Araguaia dolphin, named after the river where it was found, is a distinct species...

Sign of Life? Vapor Rises on Dwarf Planet

Find suggests Ceres has huge subsurface ocean

(Newser) - There may be a new contender for the likeliest place to host life elsewhere in our solar system—and it's not a planet or a moon. Astronomers have spotted water vapor from Ceres, classed as both the smallest dwarf planet and largest asteroid, marking the first time water has...

The World Has a New Toad
 The World Has a New Toad 
Jan 22, 2014 2:35 PM CST

The World Has a New Toad

Rhinella yunga lives in Peru, sans eardrums

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered a new species of toad, but there's a good reason it took so long to find—from above, this one looks for all the world like a dead leaf. Rhinella yunga lives in the Peruvian Andes, specifically in the region known as the Yungas, reports the...

Israel Unearths 1.5K-Year-Old Church

Byzantine-era mosaic floor will be removed for display

(Newser) - Excavators preparing a plot of earth in southern Israel for new construction instead unearthed an impressive 1,500-year-old church, reports Fox News . The structure, about 70 feet long and 40 feet wide, dates to the Byzantine era and still has mosaics with intricate geometric designs in place on its floors,...

Archaeologists Unearth Unknown Pharaoh in Egypt

Previously unknown Senebkay ruled about 1650BC

(Newser) - Scholars of ancient Egypt have a new pharaoh to study, thanks to archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Museum . Meet Woseribre Senebkay, who ruled from about 1650BC to 1600BC, reports LiveScience . The Penn researchers had to piece together his skeleton after eons of tomb robbers had their way...

Older Brains Slower But Smarter
 Older Brains 
 Are Slower 
 —but Smarter 
STUDY SAYS
Jan 21, 2014 2:11 AM CST

Older Brains Are Slower —but Smarter

Wealth of knowledge, not weakness slows things down

(Newser) - When elderly people seem slow or forgetful, it's not because their brains are weaker, but because they have so much knowledge stored up, according to new research. A team using computer models found that measures used to test cognitive decline are flawed and that the wealth of information to...

Dark Matter's 'Cosmic Web' Spotted for 1st Time

Scientists see glue that holds universe together

(Newser) - Scientists have seen a tendril of dark matter for the first time, and all it took was a "cosmic flashlight." Using the Keck telescope in Hawaii, a scientific team spotted the dark matter in a gas cloud illuminated by the radiation of a distant quasar, the BBC reports....

DNA Tests Clear Up Titanic's 'Last Mystery'

Did 2-year-old Loraine Allison perish in 1912 ... or not?

(Newser) - A century later, the word "mystery" has been replaced by "hoax." The Telegraph reports on what it calls the Titanic's "last mystery": What was the fate of Loraine Allison? The 2-year-old passenger was believed to have gone down with the ship, which would make her...

Birds&#39; V-Formation Explained
 Birds' V-Formation Explained 
in case you missed it
Jan 19, 2014 11:21 AM CST

Birds' V-Formation Explained

It's even more impressive than you probably imagined

(Newser) - OK, this is just cool: We all know birds fly in V-formations, but an in-depth study into the pattern using high-tech GPS sensors has found just how precise a science the flight model is. After tracking and monitoring a flock of northern bald ibises—rare birds raised in captivity that...

&#39;Amazingly, Smoking Is Even Worse Than We Knew&#39;

 'Amazingly, 
 Smoking Is 
 Even Worse 
 Than We Knew' 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 19, 2014 7:14 AM CST

'Amazingly, Smoking Is Even Worse Than We Knew'

Causes diabetes, erectile dysfunction, and more, surgeon general's report finds

(Newser) - Yes, smoking is bad for you, but just how bad might still surprise you. A surgeon general's report out Friday reports that lighting up is scientifically proven to cause diabetes, colorectal and liver cancers, erectile dysfunction, and ectopic pregnancy, the New York Times reports. And more: vision loss, tuberculosis,...

Search Begins for Battlefield Lost for Centuries

Battle of Brunanburh helped define English, Scottish identities

(Newser) - Scotland is poised to vote on independence this year—and before it does, researchers are hoping they'll be able to track down the site of a battle at the root of the English-Scottish divide. There are more than 40 sites across Britain where experts have suggested the vicious Battle...

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