discoveries

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

Stories 1041 - 1060 | << Prev   Next >>

The 'Most Complicated' Gene Engineering Yet

Doctors safely used CRISPR technology on 3 cancer patients in the US for first time

(Newser) - The first attempt in the United States to use a gene editing tool called CRISPR against cancer seems safe in three patients who've had it so far, but it's too soon to know if it will improve survival, doctors reported Wednesday. The doctors were able to take immune...

A Major Scourge in Our Oceans: &#39;Ghost Gear&#39;
There's a 'Zombie'
in Our Oceans
new report
Nov 6, 2019 9:25 AM CST

There's a 'Zombie' in Our Oceans

Greenpeace report finds dumped fishing gear is a leading plastic polluter

(Newser) - Try to comprehend just how much 55,000 double-decker buses weigh. It's a whole heck of a lot—more than a billion pounds. That's how much commercial fishing gear is abandoned in our oceans each year, according to a new report from Greenpeace on "ghost gear."...

After Her Trail Run, a Gross Medical Rarity
After Her Trail Run,
a Gross Medical Rarity
new study
Nov 4, 2019 8:57 AM CST

After Her Trail Run, a Gross Medical Rarity

Woman is 2nd person to have parasitic worms show up in her eyes

(Newser) - A 68-year-old US woman has earned a very unwanted distinction: She is just the second human on record to show up at the doctor's office with parasitic eye worms more common to cows, reports Live Science . The unidentified woman splits her time between Nebraska and California, and researchers explain...

After Death of Fecal Transplant Patient, a &#39;Cautionary Tale&#39;
After Death of Fecal Transplant
Patient, a 'Cautionary Tale'
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Nov 3, 2019 1:34 PM CST

After Death of Fecal Transplant Patient, a 'Cautionary Tale'

Journal article details how patient died due to E. coli-contaminated stool

(Newser) - What the New York Times calls "a frank and public act of self-examination" has emerged from a Boston medical center following the death of a fecal transplant patient after receiving contaminated stool. In an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine , doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital document...

Researchers Make Bold Claim About Human Origins
Researchers Make Bold Claim
About Human Origins
in case you missed it
Nov 2, 2019 3:00 PM CDT

Researchers Make Bold Claim About Human Origins

Controversial study argues all modern humans originated in Botswana

(Newser) - Where you from? If the authors of a controversial new study are correct, everyone on the planet has the same answer: Botswana, Africa. More specifically, a northern swath of the country, along with small parts of Namibia and Zimbabwe. Researchers led by geneticist Vanessa Hayes of the Garvan Institute of...

This May Be &#39;Watershed Moment&#39; in TB Fight
This May Be 'Watershed
Moment' in TB Fight
in case you missed it
Nov 2, 2019 11:00 AM CDT

This May Be 'Watershed Moment' in TB Fight

New vaccine could save millions of lives

(Newser) - The current vaccine for TB has been around nearly a century and has one giant flaw: The BCG vaccine helps infants but not adults. That's a big reason why tuberculosis is now the world's deadliest infectious disease, claiming 1.6 million lives a year. Now, however, comes news...

Hate Blind Spots While Driving? This Teen Has a Solution

14-year-old Alaina Gassler created innovative workaround

(Newser) - A Pennsylvania teen has won $25,000 and, perhaps soon, the gratitude of every driver in America with what Mashable calls a "simple but innovative" invention that gets rid of blind spots. A release from the Society for Science & the Public announced that the "girls shine" in...

Measles Has a Dangerous Secondary Effect
Measles Has a Dangerous
Secondary Effect
new studies
Nov 1, 2019 9:10 AM CDT

Measles Has a Dangerous Secondary Effect

It can wipe out the immune system of patients, making them vulnerable to other diseases

(Newser) - Rash, fever, coughing. The effects of measles are rough, and they can be deadly in some cases. But two new companion studies suggest that the worst part of measles may not actually be measles itself. Instead, researchers have detailed how the disease can wipe out patients' immune systems and make...

Doctor's Clever Plan to Free Boy's Stuck Tongue: a Wine Hack

Anesthesiologist recalled long-ago method to free 7-year-old's tongue from grape juice bottle

(Newser) - A 7-year-old boy too eager to suck down all of his grape juice is lucky Dr. Christoph Eich drinks wine—or at least knows how to open a wine bottle without a corkscrew. NBC News reports on this odd injury out of Germany, a case documented this week in the...

You&#39;re Going to Die. Good Luck Telling Your Brain
Your Brain Is Awesome
at Avoiding One Big Thing
in case you missed it
Oct 26, 2019 11:05 AM CDT

Your Brain Is Awesome at Avoiding One Big Thing

Recognition that you're going to die

(Newser) - Researchers say they've discovered a nifty little trick of the brain—it tries really hard to present the illusion that death is something that happens to that other guy, not you. It seems to be a defense mechanism of sorts, say researchers at Israel's Bar Ilan University, per...

He Got Drunk Not Because He Drank, but Because He Ate

Man suffered from auto-brewery syndrome, which converted carbs to ethanol

(Newser) - For years after taking antibiotics in 2011 for a thumb injury, a previously active and healthy man says he suffered from depression, "brain fog," memory loss, and aggressiveness. Then, after a DWI arrest, those around him, including medical staff and cops, became convinced he was a secret drinker—...

Snorkeling Seniors Reveal Surprise About Deadly Snakes

'Fantastic grandmothers' document large population in popular New Caledonia bay

(Newser) - A particular bay in the French territory of New Caledonia is a popular swimming spot for locals and tourists alike. However, the swimmers at the Baie des Citrons in Noumea may not be thrilled to learn they've been sharing the water with a surprisingly large number of venomous sea...

They Dug Up Tower of London Floor and Found Skeletons

They're the first bones from the Tower to have been analyzed

(Newser) - It's been almost 50 years since human remains were unearthed in the Tower of London, reports Live Science , which makes the recent discovery of two skeletons a noteworthy one—for more reasons than one. The Telegraph reports on the find: of a woman who died between the ages of...

This Is the Loudest Bird. Just Ask His Girlfriend


Meet the
World's
Loudest
Bird
new study
Oct 22, 2019 10:50 AM CDT

Meet the World's Loudest Bird

The white bellbird hits 125.4 decibels

(Newser) - The male white bellbird has just earned the distinction of being the loudest bird on the planet. Just ask the female white bellbirds—the guys essentially scream in their faces at courting time. In fact, that's one of the surprises from the study. As the researchers delicately put it...

Meet the Fastest Ant in the World
Meet the Fastest
Ant in the World
new study
Oct 17, 2019 8:31 AM CDT

Meet the Fastest Ant in the World

Saharan desert ant moves at the equivalent of more than 400mph for humans

(Newser) - National Geographic compares it to a "tiny, glinting missile." The Guardian notes that the rate of its stride is more than 10 times faster than that of the fastest human, Usain Bolt. The hubbub is in honor of the Saharan silver ant, which researchers have just discovered...

20 Sealed Coffins Uncovered in Egypt

And nearby, evidence of funerary items produced on an 'industrial scale'

(Newser) - The colorful strokes, painted millennia ago, are still visible beneath a layer of dirt, which is partly why Egypt's antiquities ministry is celebrating the discovery of more than 20 ancient coffins as one of the "largest and most important" finds in the country in recent years. But the...

Lost Chapter of World's First Novel Found in Chest

Family has been holding it for nearly 300 years

(Newser) - The chest was opened. And suddenly, a chapter has been added to the oldest known version of what's considered to be the world's first novel . The original manuscript of the Tale of Genji—telling of the political and romantic life of Genji, the son of an ancient Japanese...

For Nobel Prize in Physics, a 3-Way Triumph

The work revolves around discovery of an exoplanet, 'discoveries in physical cosmology'

(Newser) - Three scientists have won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for their contribution to the understanding of the evolution of the universe and "Earth's place in the cosmos," a day after two Americans and one British scientist were bestowed the award for physiology or medicine . One half...

Driving Pancreatic Cancer: a &#39;Fungal Invasion&#39;
Driving Pancreatic
Cancer: a 'Fungal Invasion'
NEW STUDY
Oct 4, 2019 9:54 AM CDT

Driving Pancreatic Cancer: a 'Fungal Invasion'

Scientists say fungi move from gut to pancreas, significantly increase in number, spur tumor growth

(Newser) - An organ once deemed "sterile" may actually be teeming with fungi, and certain varieties there may be promoting cancer. New research in the journal Nature notes that even though it's already known bacteria is able to move from the gut to the pancreas, it wasn't clear whether...

All That Ocean Plastic? It Has an Unexpected Source

It doesn't all come from land-based sources

(Newser) - In 1984, 2009, and 2018, researchers made the trek to Inaccessible Island, which sits between Argentina and South Africa in the South Atlantic. They describe it as a "remote, uninhabited island ... that has a very high macrodebris load"—and that debris is what they were there for. In...

Stories 1041 - 1060 | << Prev   Next >>