discoveries

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

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The Call Came From America: I Have a Piece of Stonehenge

And it could be a coup for researchers

(Newser) - An 89-year-old gave a piece of Stonehenge back to ... Stonehenge. As the BBC reports, one of the trilithons—the distinct three-stone arrangements that make up the prehistoric monument—had fallen, and so in 1958 archaeologists went about righting it. While doing so, they noticed one of the stones had cracked....

Every Shrimp Tested Had Traces of Cocaine
Study of Shrimp Has
an Unwelcome Surprise
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
May 5, 2019 1:45 PM CDT

Study of Shrimp Has an Unwelcome Surprise

Every one tested in UK study had traces of cocaine

(Newser) - How's this for an unwelcome surprise in a study of freshwater shrimp: Every one tested in a study of 15 different sites in Britain's rural Suffolk County had traces of cocaine, reports the Guardian . Oh, and traces of the drug ketamine were widespread. Also showing up: a long-banned...

Most Venomous Creature on Earth Now a Bit Less Scary

Researchers say they've found an antidote for box jellyfish stings

(Newser) - The world’s most venomous creature is not a snake but a jellyfish, and researchers say they have found an antidote for its lethal sting. The Australian box jellyfish has roughly 60 tentacles that can stretch up to 10 feet in length and are studded with microscopic hooks containing venom....

Blood Test Could Be Big News on Rare Disorder



Potential
Breakthrough
on Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome
new study
Apr 30, 2019 12:18 PM CDT

Potential Breakthrough on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Researchers think they can diagnose it with a blood test

(Newser) - The study was small—involving just 40 patients—but the results couldn't have been better. Researchers were able to correctly determine which 20 of those patients suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome based on a blood test, reports the San Jose Mercury News . A larger, more robust test is now...

Reason for Your Achy Knee May Be a &#39;Little Bean&#39;
This 'Pointless' Bone Vanished
From Humans. Now It's Back
in case you missed it
Apr 27, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

This 'Pointless' Bone Vanished From Humans. Now It's Back

Scientists thought evolution had taken its toll on knee's fabella, but it's making a comeback

(Newser) - One hundred years ago, just 11% of humans had a fabella, a tiny bone embedded in the tendon behind the knee. Last year, the percentage of people worldwide with that bone spiked to 39%, and scientists are trying to figure out why a bone that doctors generally think is "...

This Peanut Allergy Treatment May Make Things Worse
Peanut Allergy Study Has
a Disappointing Finding
new study
Apr 26, 2019 9:17 AM CDT

Peanut Allergy Study Has a Disappointing Finding

Microdoses in kids might actually make things worse, say researchers

(Newser) - Giving kids with peanut allergies tiny doses of peanuts to build up their immunity might actually make things worse, a new study in the Lancet medical journal suggests. The researchers say they're not denouncing the approach, called oral immunotherapy, but are calling for better methods and further study. The...

We Knew of 180K Quakes in a Decade. That Was Way Off

Southern California has experienced 1.8M, though all the additional ones were small

(Newser) - It turns out the 180,000 earthquakes that have been recorded in Southern California over the last decade is a number that's off—by a lot. New research puts the number at 1.8 million, according to a study published Thursday in Science . All those additional ones were incredibly...

8 'Bubble Boy' Infants Cured, Thanks to HIV

Using gene therapy, researchers turn the virus into one that fixes rare disorder

(Newser) - Eight for eight. That's the record scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital are thrilled about after using gene therapy to cure eight baby boys of the rare disorder commonly known as "bubble boy" disease, reports the BBC . What's more, the researchers used HIV to do...

This Is a Photo of the Pyrenees. And, Apparently, Microplastic

Researchers find it in the air there, 4K feet up

(Newser) - It's a memorable scene in American Beauty: film of a plastic bag floating in the wind. A researcher with Scotland's University of Strathclyde started wondering about bags like that, and where they go when they leave our sight. "We thought that maybe it just doesn't disappear,...

&#39;Sugar Rush&#39;? It Might Be a Myth
A Common Belief About
Sugar Might Be Wrong
in case you missed it
Apr 13, 2019 12:36 PM CDT

A Common Belief About Sugar Might Be Wrong

Study suggests the idea of a 'sugar rush' is a myth

(Newser) - People in need of a jolt of energy who reach for a sugary drink or snack might be doing precisely the wrong thing, a new study suggests. Researchers in Neuroscience & Behavioral Reviews makes the case that the "sugar rush" is a myth, reports MedicalNewsToday . In fact, people who...

She Made It to Age 99—With Her Organs in the Wrong Place

Condition wasn't discovered until Rose Marie Bentley's body was donated to science

(Newser) - An Oregon woman had three organs removed over the course of her life. But before her death at age 99, only one doctor had noted anything unusual about her insides. That changed in a big way when Rose Marie Bentley's body arrived at Oregon Health and Science University in...

Researchers Find Trick to Growing Tastier Basil

24-hour light is the key, say MIT researchers

(Newser) - Researchers at MIT say they've figured out how to grow the tastiest basil: Expose the plant to light 24 hours a day. The nugget comes out of a project in which scientists grew the herb in a shipping container, a controlled environment that allowed them to precisely monitor every...

Fossil of 4-Legged Whale Found in Peru

Scientists believe it swam like an otter

(Newser) - What's 13 feet long and has webbed feet with small hooves? It's a whale, according to researchers examining a 42.6-million-year-old fossil found near Peru's Pacific coast. The four-legged early whale, which could apparently move on land as well as in the sea, is the most complete...

A Cubed Number Puzzle Is Solved. Only One Is Left

UK's Andrew Booker figures out which three cubed numbers add up to 33

(Newser) - For more than half a century, modern mathematicians have been trying to crack two stubborn numbers problems—and a UK professor just solved one of them. As Live Science explains, the problem itself seems fairly straight-forward: Which three cubed numbers add up to 33? The University of Bristol's Andrew...

Revealed: the Last African-Born Slave in US

Sally Smith, aka Redoshi, arrived on Clotilda slave ship as a child: researcher

(Newser) - The last known survivor of the trans-Atlantic slave ships lived out her final days on the Alabama plantation that had formerly been her prison. Sally Smith, kidnapped by slave traders from a village in what is now Benin in 1860, died in 1937—two years after the former slave previously...

At Heart of Lake Titicaca, an Ancient Treasure Trove

Evidence suggests ritual sacrifice by the Tiwanaku

(Newser) - To the Aymara people of the Andes, Lake Titicaca is a mystical being. It's a belief that dates back hundreds of years to the Inca—and beyond, as evidenced by treasure pulled from the lake's depths, per Live Science . Divers have discovered gold medallions marked with a ray-faced...

&#39;This Is the Death Blow Preserved&#39;
'This Is the
Death Blow
Preserved'
new study
Apr 1, 2019 12:15 PM CDT

'This Is the Death Blow Preserved'

Researchers say they found evidence in North Dakota of the asteroid that hit in Mexico

(Newser) - New research released Friday captures a fossilized snapshot of the day nearly 66 million years ago when an asteroid smacked Earth, fire rained from the sky, and the ground shook far worse than any modern earthquake. The researchers say they found evidence in North Dakota of the asteroid that hit...

Family Heirloom May Be Worth $90M
Family Heirloom
May Be Worth $90M
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 31, 2019 9:33 AM CDT

Family Heirloom May Be Worth $90M

Abraham Reyes of Ontario shows off what he says is a massive natural pearl

(Newser) - They are not your usual comparisons for gemstones: The CBC says it's roughly the size of a baby, while the owner says it's about the size of a cow's head. Both refer to what may be one of the biggest natural pearls in the world. It weighs...

Woman Feels No Pain, Didn't Realize It Until Age 65

Jo Cameron has been through several operations and childbirth without painkillers

(Newser) - It sounds like something out of a superhero movie: There's a woman living in Scotland who feels no pain. In a case report on Jo Cameron in the British Journal of Anaesthesia , scientists say they discovered two genetic mutations at play (one on a previously unidentified gene) and that...

Archaeologists Find Viking-Era Ship

It will remain buried near Oslo

(Newser) - Norwegian officials say they have found a ship buried in the ground west of Oslo that they think dates to the Viking era. The ship was found using geo-radar, the AP reports. Archaeologists say they have no immediate plans to unearth it, but they will use non-invasive methods to find...

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