discoveries

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

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Alzheimer's Test: Can You Smell Peanut Butter?

If your left nostril is lagging, it might be a sign of trouble: study

(Newser) - How's this for a low-tech way of diagnosing Alzheimer's: sniffing peanut butter. Researchers at the University of Florida have discovered some merit to the bizarre-sounding notion, reports Futurity . Knowing that patients in cognitive decline often lose their sense of smell first, the researchers had patients sniff a dollop...

Some Male Marsupials Die After Marathon Mating

14-hour sessions take everything out of them: Study

(Newser) - Some male marsupials have quite the end-of-life experience: They "mate themselves to death," explains the lead author of a new study in the journal PNAS . Researchers found that in some insect-eating species, the males buck themselves up for one grand finale, then mate with as many partners as...

Archaeologists Find 4K-Year-Old Brain

It was likely preserved by earthquake, fire

(Newser) - Archaeologists in Turkey have uncovered one of the oldest human brains ever found, New Scientist reports. The 4,000-year-old organ was found in Seyitömer Höyük, a Bronze Age settlement, and researchers think its owner was likely killed when an earthquake buried him under rubble. A fire probably...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Who needs morphine when we've got centipedes?

(Newser) - Centipede venom and extraterrestrial plastic made headlines this week in the world of science:
  • Centipede Venom Might Be Better Than Morphine : How would you feel if the ER doctor offered you centipede venom for the pain? The idea isn't so farfetched: A new study finds that the venom, which
...

Centipede Venom Better Than Morphine: Study

It holds promise as pain-reliever, says study

(Newser) - How would you feel if the ER doctor offered you centipede venom for the pain? The idea isn't so farfetched: A new study finds that the venom, which paralyzes prey, may also yield a compound that's more effective than morphine as a painkiller for humans, Smithsonian reports. Why?...

Cats Might Help Us Make HIV Vaccine
 Cats Might 
 Help Us Make 
 HIV Vaccine 
study says
Oct 3, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

Cats Might Help Us Make HIV Vaccine

Researchers find link with feline version of virus

(Newser) - The quest for an HIV vaccine might get a boost from cats, reports Medical News Today . Researchers studying the feline version of AIDS came across a tantalizing discovery: When they exposed a protein from the cat virus to the blood of HIV-positive humans, it triggered an immune response in the...

Lake Turns Animals Into 'Statues'

Tanzania's Lake Natron, probably not a great swimming hole

(Newser) - We would strongly advise you not to go swimming in Tanzania's Lake Natron. Animals who are immersed in the water not only die, they're calcified and turned into creepy-looking "statues," New Scientist reports. Why is it so inhospitable? Alkalinity is extremely high (between pH 9 and...

Scientists Solve 'Abominable Mystery' of Flowers

New research finds they could be as old as dinosaurs

(Newser) - Flowers have been around since the very first dinosaurs were able to trample them underfoot, new research suggests. Science already knew that flowering plants started showing up in the age of dinosaurs. But a study led by a paleobotanist at the Universty of Zurich has unearthed 245 million-year-old grains of...

New Find on Moon of Saturn: Plastic

Or at least a molecule used to make it

(Newser) - Earth and Saturn now have something in common: plastic. NASA's Cassini spacecraft detected the molecule propylene on Saturn's moon Titan, and propylene is one of the basic ingredients of modern plastic here on Earth, reports the BBC . It's the first extraterrestrial plastic ingredient ever found, reports NASA'...

Archeologists Find Ancient City in Iraq

Better still, Idu was found in the north, where digs are rare

(Newser) - Introducing the city of Idu, a once-thriving metropolis in what is now northern Iraq. Archeologists discovered its ruins beneath a mound in the Kurdistan region and say Idu was a major city about 3,000 years ago, reports LiveScience . It belonged to the Assyrian Empire, except for a relatively brief...

Culprit Found in 13th-Century Eruption That Rocked Earth

Polar traces indicate Indonesian volcano

(Newser) - An eruption in 1257—the biggest in the last 3,700 years—was so vast that it left its mark at opposite ends of the Earth and exacted a profound short-term impact on the climate, including a "year without a summer." Its chemical signature appears in Arctic as...

Tiny Sea Louse Has Extra Body Clock

One for night and day, and the other for the tides

(Newser) - The speckled sea louse may be only 5mm long, but it's got something you don't: an extra body clock. Like humans and other creatures, the sea louse has one body clock that follows the circadian rhythms of night and day. But scientists have found the first molecular proof...

Photo Proof: Eagle Attacks Deer
 Photo Proof: 
 Eagle Attacks Deer 
in case you missed it
Sep 28, 2013 7:00 PM CDT

Photo Proof: Eagle Attacks Deer

And the eagle wins

(Newser) - Researchers studying Siberian tigers in Russia came across a strange thing in the woods: the carcass of a deer in the snow—but no sign of any tracks from the predator that killed it. A review of film in a nearby camera trap solved the mystery: It shows dramatic images...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

From pirate booty off Massachusetts to a wild nature photo

(Newser) - Neat fact of the week: There's only one authenticated pirate ship wreck in US waters ... and there may actually be pirate booty languishing there as well.
  • There's Sunken Treasure Off Massachusetts : The Whydah sank in 1717, along with riches plundered from 50 other ships. Barry Clifford actually located
...

Big Find Atop French Alps: Jewels

Best guess is that the treasure is from a decades-old plane crash

(Newser) - A very honest mountain climber in the French Alps has stumbled upon an amazing find: a small box crammed with emeralds, sapphires, and other gems, reports the AP . The loot has been valued at about $330,000, but the anonymous climber handed it over to police upon his descent from...

Island Born by Quake Releasing Mystery Gas

Could be methane, could be something else

(Newser) - Tuesday's earthquake in Pakistan gave rise to an island roughly half a mile off the coast; yesterday, locals set off to explore it, and what they describe is an oval-shaped mass no more than 300 feet long—which is emitting some kind of flammable gas. Journalist Bahram Baloch tells...

For Moms, Smell of Newborns Is Like a Drug

Study shows that mothers' brains light up with pleasure at the scent

(Newser) - The smell of a newborn isn't just a pleasant sensation for moms—it might be closer to an addiction, a new study suggests. Montreal researchers found that when women who had given birth recently smelled an infants' pajamas, their brains' reward circuits lit up, reports LiveScience . The dopamine surge...

Moon Maybe Not as Old as Previously Thought

New research suggests it's 100M years younger

(Newser) - No wonder the moon has such a youthful complexion (well, it vaguely resembles a teenager's spotty face)—new research suggests it isn't quite as old as previously thought. The standard theory was that the moon formed some 4.56 billion years ago, after another planet slammed into Earth....

6 Missing for Decades Found in Oklahoma Lake
6 Missing for Decades
Possibly Found in Okla. Lake
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sep 22, 2013 11:18 AM CDT

6 Missing for Decades Possibly Found in Okla. Lake

Lingering mysteries may have been solved at Oklahoma's Foss Lake

(Newser) - Two mysteries, one 43 years old, the other a half-century, may have been solved—accidentally. The Elk City Daily News reports that Oklahoma authorities testing out new sonar technology at Foss Lake earlier this month stumbled upon two cars about 12 feet below the surface. The Oklahoma State Bureau of...

Oops: How the US Almost Nuked Itself
 Oops: How 
 the US Almost 
 Nuked Itself 
in case you missed it
Sep 21, 2013 7:00 AM CDT

Oops: How the US Almost Nuked Itself

Bombs fell over North Carolina in 1961: book

(Newser) - The author of Fast Food Nation is offering a little reminder of the danger of nuclear weapons: If things had gone just a little differently, the US could have blown up North Carolina—and taken much of the East Coast out too, thanks to the fallout. In 1961, Eric Schlosser...

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