discoveries

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

Stories 1261 - 1280 | << Prev   Next >>

Zoo Unravels Mystery of Lioness Who Sprouted a Mane

Tests reveal what's up with Bridget

(Newser) - Lab results have revealed the answer to a mystery at an Oklahoma zoo: Just what caused a female lion to sprout a mane. The Oklahoma City Zoo says in its March newsletter that testing at the University of Tennessee found the African lioness named Bridget has an elevated level of...

Your Fingerprint Might Have Cocaine in It
Your Fingerprint Might Have
Cocaine in It
study says
Mar 22, 2018 10:24 AM CDT

Your Fingerprint Might Have Cocaine in It

Even if you don't do drugs

(Newser) - Even if you don't do drugs, there's a surprisingly decent chance your fingerprints have traces of cocaine and even heroin. Researchers from the University of Surrey in Britain found that slightly more than 1 in 10 drug-free study participants had cocaine in their prints and 1% had heroin,...

These Stone Tools Are Smashing Theories on Africa
These Stone Tools
Are Smashing
Theories on Africa
NEW STUDIES
Mar 20, 2018 7:14 PM CDT

These Stone Tools Are Smashing Theories on Africa

At 320K years old, they push back date of Middle Stone Age

(Newser) - For decades, the human story was one told through signs of modernity—art, tools, burials—found only after Homo sapiens left Africa. Recent discoveries pushing back the date of departure are helping to change that narrative, as are three new studies in Science. Together, they describe the earliest stone tools...

Famous WWII Wreck of Sullivan Brothers Discovered

USS Juneau found off the coast of the Solomon Islands by Paul Allen's crew

(Newser) - Another remarkable find for Paul Allen: The billionaire Microsoft co-founder funding the search for missing warships has discovered the USS Juneau resting 2.5 miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Solomon Islands, reports the Guardian . Japanese torpedoes sank the ship in November 1942...

They Couldn't Even See a Book. Then Their Eyes Got a 'Patch'

2 elderly patients with age-related macular degeneration regain vision using stem cells

(Newser) - A new breakthrough on the stem cell front, and this time it affects the eyes. The Guardian reports that two patients with age-related macular degeneration, one of the most common causes of blindness, got back enough of their vision so they could make out individual faces and once again read;...

Drinks Thrown Back by US Binge-Drinkers: 17.5B Annually
A Big Number for US
Binge-Drinkers: 17.5B
NEW STUDY
Mar 19, 2018 7:11 AM CDT

A Big Number for US Binge-Drinkers: 17.5B

That's how many drinks they throw back each year, the CDC reports

(Newser) - If we're going by the numbers, the latest one emerging from the CDC is a big one: 17.5 billion, signifying the number of binge drinks quaffed annually by US adults during such binges, per Live Science . That figure, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine , comes from...

Humans Mated With Mysterious Species Twice
Humans Mated Outside
Our Species 3 Times
NEW STUDY
Mar 16, 2018 9:31 AM CDT

Humans Mated Outside Our Species 3 Times

Second instance of human-Denisovan interbreeding discovered

(Newser) - Ancient humans weren't against knocking boots with other species: We know they had sex with Neanderthals . We also know they mated with the mysterious Denisovans, as some Australasians (those from Papua New Guinea in particular) have 5% Denisovan DNA. But a "breakthrough" study shows the interbreeding wasn't...

They Had the Same DNA. Then One Spent a Year in Space

A fascinating look at the case of identical twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly

(Newser) - NASA is pointing to the "stresses of space travel" as the factor behind a fascinating phenomenon involving the only pair of identical twin astronauts in history. Per Live Science , even though Scott and Mark Kelly once boasted the same DNA makeup, Scott's nearly yearlong trip on the International...

US Deaths Tied to 'Ubiquitous but Insidious' Lead: 410K a Year

About 10 times higher than what researchers previously thought

(Newser) - A study on "ubiquitous but insidious" lead exposure is being deemed a "big deal" after researchers found a link between lead exposure and the deaths of around a quarter-million Americans annually from heart disease. In what USA Today says is the first study using a nationally representative sample...

On Aussie Beach, the World&#39;s Oldest Message in a Bottle
Inside a Gin Bottle, a Historic
132-Year-Old Message
In Case You Missed It
Mar 10, 2018 6:30 PM CST

Inside a Gin Bottle, a Historic 132-Year-Old Message

Bottle and note were tossed off a German ship in 1886, making it oldest message in a bottle ever

(Newser) - In a Police song come to life in an epic way, a Perth woman just made history with a find on a Western Australian beach. ABC News Australia and the BBC report Tonya Illman was strolling on Wedge Island at the end of January when she spotted what she thought...

Microsoft Co-Founder Makes Big Find in Coral Sea

Billionaire Paul Allen found the wreckage of WWII's USS Lexington, one of the first US aircraft carriers

(Newser) - Badly damaged after four days of battle with the Japanese, "Lady Lex" was deliberately sent to the depths of the Coral Sea with a reported 216 bodies on board. It's there that one of the first US aircraft carriers slumbered undisturbed for 76 years, until a crew led...

Secret Colony of Penguins Given Away by Own Poop
Scientists Find
Huge, Secret
Colony of Penguins
NEW STUDY
Mar 2, 2018 11:38 AM CST

Scientists Find Huge, Secret Colony of Penguins

'Supercolony' of 1.5M Adélie penguins on Antarctic Peninsula is a major find

(Newser) - More than 1 million penguins who've been hiding in a remote part of Antarctica were recently discovered thanks to images taken from space and ... their own poop. A study in the Scientific Reports journal reveals the Danger Islands find of more than 750,000 pairs of Adélie penguins—...

It Looks Like a Smudge. But Its Significance Is Huge

Mummy tattoos among the oldest ever found, say scientists

(Newser) - The ancient Egyptian mummy has been a favorite attraction at the British Museum since it was discovered a century ago in Gebelein, but only keen-eyed passers-by would've wondered at the dark smudges on the male's upper arm. Turns out, they were worth noticing. Infrared scans have revealed them...

Biggest Fish in the Ocean Continues to Confound Us

Scientists tried new research techniques on the whale shark, but they haven't learned much yet

(Newser) - It's the biggest shark—and the biggest fish—in the sea. Yet despite its hulking appearance, the whale shark has only tiny, almost useless teeth and is sometimes so docile that entire boatloads of people can swim alongside the enigmatic, spotted beast. It's also one of the least...

Caught Your Teen Sexting? Don&#39;t Panic
Caught Your Teen
Sexting? Don't Panic
NEW STUDY
Feb 27, 2018 10:05 AM CST

Caught Your Teen Sexting? Don't Panic

Researchers say it could be a healthy part of sex education, if handled correctly

(Newser) - If you've finally mastered "OMG" and "IYKWIM," you may be ready for the next step in deciphering text messages—though if you're the parent of a teen, you might not like what you uncover. That's because teens are spending more time sexting, with at...

Copy of Declaration of Independence Was Hidden Behind Wallpaper

In order to keep it out of Union hands during the Civil War

(Newser) - When John Quincy Adams was not yet president but secretary of state, he ordered that 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence be made, as the then-40-year-old calfskin document was already becoming tough to read. And so it was done, with the copies—thought to be made over a two-year...

Scientists Unravel Mystery of &#39;Gate to Hell&#39;
Gods Didn't Kill Animals
in 'Gate to Hell'—Gas Did
NEW STUDY
Feb 23, 2018 12:50 PM CST

Gods Didn't Kill Animals in 'Gate to Hell'—Gas Did

Carbon dioxide is the key, researchers say of legendary Turkish cave

(Newser) - Centuries ago, bulls, rams, and other animals led into an ancient cave for religious ceremonies died of seemingly mystical causes, while the priests accompanying them suffered no such fate. Scientists say they've now figured out the secret behind this "Gate to Hell" in the ancient city of Hierapolis,...

This Could Prove Biblical Prophet's Existence. Or Not

Clay seal reading 'Isaiah' up for debate

(Newser) - A clay seal found in an ancient garbage pit in Jerusalem might have belonged to the prophet Isaiah, who's described as predicting the virgin birth and Jesus' death in the Old Testament. Or, less exciting, it might have belonged to some random guy named Isaiah. At present, it's...

A New Study Just Rewrote the History Book on Plants

Study suggests they appeared 500M years ago, or 100M years earlier than believed

(Newser) - The arrival of plants on Earth changed the planet and its inhabitants in big ways, and a new study suggests they arrived far earlier than thought. University of Bristol researchers now say that land plants evolved from pond scum about 500 million years ago—a whopping 100 million years earlier...

A Rod, a Shadow, and a Theory for Egypt's Almost- Perfect Pyramids

Archaeologist thinks it could be tied to the fall equinox

(Newser) - Scientists have long puzzled over how the ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza (aka the Pyramid of Khufu) with such "extreme precision," per Live Science . This Wonder of the World is lined up with the compass points "with an accuracy of better than four minutes...

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