discoveries

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

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To Avoid Sunburn, Whales Get a Tan

Scientists take first look at how they deal with sun damage

(Newser) - Researchers have found an unusual way in which whales and humans are similar: we both get suntans. Blue whales, especially, tend to tan to protect themselves from the sun's UV rays, reports the Canadian Press . Essentially, they tan during their summer migrations to ward off dangerous sunburns, as a...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Greenland has a canyon bigger than the Grand Canyon

(Newser) - This week's most incredible discoveries include a massive under-ice canyon and the world's biggest fish:
  • Scientists Accidentally Discover Even 'Grander' Canyon : Scientists have—totally by accident—come across a hidden canyon that dwarfs the Grand one. This one, though, has never been seen by humans. It's
...

Scientists Unearth World's Largest Fish

The Leedsichthys grew to up to 50 feet in length

(Newser) - As far as discoveries go, this one is pretty astounding on three counts: It came about by chance, expanded our knowledge of "gigantism," and revealed the world's largest fish. As the Observer reports, two geology students spotted pieces of bone amid the rocks in a quarry in...

Mystery People Beat Vikings to Islands by 500 Years
Mystery People Beat Vikings to Islands by 500 Years
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 25, 2013 11:29 AM CDT

Mystery People Beat Vikings to Islands by 500 Years

Vikings apparently not the first to reach Faroe Islands: archaeologists

(Newser) - Vikings may have reached the Faroe Islands some 1,200 years ago, but it turns out that was no immortal achievement. New research indicates that mystery settlers beat them there by as many as 500 years. Smithsonian reports that in 2006, archaeologists found burnt barley grains—not indigenous to the...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including 2 tales of rings

(Newser) - Among this week's most fascinating discoveries: two rings, one with a moving backstory, and one whose past is of a more murderous nature.
  1. WWII POW's Treasured Ring Finds Its Way Home : Faced with bug-infested soup and little hope, a WWII prisoner of war traded his precious ring to
...

Archeologists Find First Evidence of Spicy Cooking

Honor goes to garlic mustard seeds used 6K years ago

(Newser) - The first foodies? Archeologists have uncovered the oldest known evidence of humans cooking with spices, they report in PLoS One . The UK researchers found traces of garlic mustard seeds in 6,000-year-old pots dug up in Denmark and Germany. Because the seeds have little nutritional value but deliver a peppery...

City Mice Smarter Than Country Mice
 City Mice 
 Smarter Than 
 Country Mice 
Study Says
Aug 23, 2013 2:31 PM CDT

City Mice Smarter Than Country Mice

Study finds that human activity has made some animals evolve larger brains

(Newser) - City dwellers have evolved bigger brains than their rural counterparts, a new study suggests—at least among white-footed mice and meadow voles. University of Minnesota biologist Emilie Snell-Rood looked at the skulls of 10 species of small mammals, and found that in those two species, specimens from urban environments had...

Birds Observe Speed Limits on Roads, Too

They adapt to car speeds for their own safety, study says

(Newser) - No, birds can't decipher the numbers on speed-limit signs. But researchers suggest that they've learned to observe our posted limits in their own way, reports the Canadian Press . Essentially, the higher the speed limit is on a road, the faster the birds take off to avoid oncoming traffic....

Archaeologists Find Unusual Murder Weapon: a Ring

Would have been used to hold poison, says dig leader

(Newser) - Archaeologists have uncovered a cache of jewelry from the ruins of Bulgaria's Cape Kaliakra. But one of the more than 30 pieces found there over the last two years is getting particular attention—a ring that may have doubled as a murder weapon. Discovery News reports the centuries-old bronze...

WWII POW's Treasured Ring Finds Its Way Home

After 1.5 years in prison camp, David Cox traded it for food

(Newser) - Last week, David Cox Jr. opened a package that had been sent to Raleigh, NC, from Germany. In it was a ring—and with it an amazing story. The gold aviator's ring had belonged to the 67-year-old's father, David Cox, who had been given it by his parents...

Voyager May Have Left Solar System—a Year Ago

Blended magnetic fields at solar system's edge blurred crossing: study

(Newser) - The Voyager 1 spacecraft, expected to leave our solar system any day now , may actually have already done so—more than a year ago. Though similar reports were squashed earlier this year, a new study in Astrophysical Journal Letters suggests that the craft passed beyond the solar system's edge...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

From an old shipwreck to a new species

(Newser) - From the warm and fuzzy to the downright icy, this week has brought news of some amazing finds:
  1. Crazy Shipwreck Find: 2K-Year-Old Roman Food? After more than 80 years of reports from fishermen that they were bringing up Roman pottery shards and artifacts in their nets off the coast of
...

Turkey Dig Unearths 'Oldest Gaming Tokens Ever'

Archaeologists puzzle over game's strategy

(Newser) - Bronze-Age chess, anyone? Archaeologists in Turkey have unearthed a handful of pretty, 5,000-year-old stone carvings that may be the oldest gaming tokens ever found. Featuring dogs, pigs, pyramids, dice, and other shapes, the colorful tokens were discovered in a burial mound filled with other artifacts, Discovery reports. "It'...

New Tool Measures Consciousness for First Time

It could help treat unresponsive patients with brain injuries

(Newser) - How to determine whether an unresponsive patient is conscious? Introducing the PCI, a technique that involves measuring the brain's response to a magnetic pulse, reports LiveScience . “You’re kind of banging on the brain and listening to the echo,” explains a UK neuroscientist to ScienceNow . The new...

New Species a 'Cross Between Teddy Bear, House Cat'

Scientists discover the adorable olinguito

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered the first new mammalian carnivore species in the Americas in 35 years, and it's being met with a resounding "Awww!" ( CNN 's headline includes the word "cute," while the AP goes with "adorable.") The olinguito "looks...

North America's Oldest Rock Art Is Located Here

Scientists date petroglyphs at Winnemucca Lake

(Newser) - The oldest rock art in North America exists on limestone boulders at Nevada's now-dry Winnemucca Lake, a new analysis suggests. The petroglyphs, which include carvings of trees, leaves, and abstract designs, are likely between 10,500 and 14,800 years old, LiveScience reports. Scientists found the age by determining...

Medieval Tomb Discovered by ... a Badger?

12th Century tomb of Slavic lords unearthed by an unlikely archaeologist

(Newser) - Amateur archeologists in Germany have made a significant discovery thanks to an unlikely assistant: a badger. Lars Wilhelm and Hendrikje Ring spotted a human pelvic bone that had been dug up near a badger's den on the farm they live on about 50 miles northeast of Berlin. "We...

'Bad Handwriting' May Settle Shakespeare Mystery

Professor says it proves 'Spanish Tragedy' lines are by the Bard

(Newser) - It's been a nearly 200-year-long debate: Did William Shakespeare add 325 lines to Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy nearly a decade after Kyd's death? None other than Samuel Taylor Coleridge raised the question in 1833, and a 2012 computer analysis seemed to lend credence to the theory....

Redwoods Growing at Fastest Rate Ever

 Redwoods Growing 
 at Fastest Rate Ever 
new study
Aug 14, 2013 7:18 AM CDT

Redwoods Growing at Fastest Rate Ever

And we may have climate change to thank

(Newser) - Not a phrase you typically see associated with climate change: "a wonderful, happy surprise." But that's what the science director at the Save the Redwoods League had to say to the Los Angeles Times about the news that coast redwoods and giant sequoias have grown at their...

Crazy Shipwreck Find: 2K-Year-Old Roman Food?

Divers think food could have been preserved

(Newser) - A 2,000-year-old shipwreck discovered off the coast of Italy could yield a pretty neat find: jars of preserved food from ancient Rome. Divers launched a search near Varazze, a town in the province of Liguria, after more than 80 years of reports from fishermen that they were bringing up...

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