discoveries

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

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One Particular Year May Have Been Worst for Humans

Be glad you avoided 536

(Newser) - It's an interesting bar bet for armchair historians: Name the worst year in human history. For Harvard medieval historian Michael McCormack, the smart money is on 536. "It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year," he tells...

It's the Only Animal That Poops Cubes. Mystery Now Solved?

Elastic intestines and a need for turf-marking may be the drivers behind wombats' odd feces shape

(Newser) - Poop comes in all shapes and sizes, but one kind of marsupial produces oddly symmetrical, six-sided feces that have had scientists scratching their heads. Patricia Yang, a mechanical engineering fellow at Georgia Tech, decided she needed to get to the bottom of why wombats expel poop cubes—the only known...

Drug a 'Good First Step' for Kids With Peanut Allergies

Experimental drug AR101 found to ease reactions in more than 2/3 of kids with peanut allergy

(Newser) - For parents of kids with peanut allergies, a new study holds "lifesaving" hope. The Wall Street Journal and New York Times report on AR101, an experimental drug from Aimmune Therapeutics that's been shown to ease reactions in kids with peanut allergies. In the oral immunotherapy study published in...

Giant Impact Crater Reported in Unusual Place
Under Greenland's Ice,
a Surprise Find
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Nov 18, 2018 12:10 PM CST

Under Greenland's Ice, a Surprise Find

Scientists think they've found one of the world's biggest impact craters

(Newser) - Scientists think they've found one of the world's biggest impact craters, but confirmation is tricky given its location—under a glacier in Greenland. In the journal Science Advances , researchers make the case that a meteorite perhaps a mile wide slammed into Greenland somewhere between 12,000 and 3...

Humans of the Era as Prone to Violence as Neanderthals
200 Skulls Suggest Neanderthal
Stereotype Is Wrong
NEW STUDY
Nov 15, 2018 10:20 AM CST

200 Skulls Suggest Neanderthal Stereotype Is Wrong

Early modern humans just as prone to violence: study

(Newser) - The perception of Neanderthals as big, stupid oafs has been mostly debunked . Now, a new study is helping buck another stereotype depicting the human relatives as especially prone to violence. The idea stems from trauma, particularly to the head and neck, visible among Neanderthal remains. When researchers compiled reports on...

Men Are From Mars (Logic), Women From Venus (Empathy)

Cambridge scientists reinforce old stereotypes; critics pounce on 'neurosexism'

(Newser) - In what's said to be the largest study examining differences between the sexes, a longtime stereotype is holding some water—though critics are pushing back on the supposed biological merit underlying the results. The Telegraph reports that researchers at the University of Cambridge tested more than 670,000 people...

Key to How Pyramids Were Built: A Ramp?
Quarry Discovery May Explain
How Pyramids Were Built
in case you missed it
Nov 10, 2018 7:00 AM CST

Quarry Discovery May Explain How Pyramids Were Built

Researchers find ramp system in Egypt

(Newser) - Scientists have long theorized that Egyptians used a ramp of some kind in building the pyramids, and a new discovery in an ancient quarry might provide a tangible look at just such a system. Researchers say they found the remains of a system that dates back 4,500 years, to...

Reason Pygmies Are Short May Be Surprisingly Simple
Simple Reason
May Explain
Pygmies' Height
new study
Nov 9, 2018 8:44 AM CST

Simple Reason May Explain Pygmies' Height

Study suggests taking shorter steps allows them to survive better in rain forests

(Newser) - Short-statured people known as pygmies live in rain forests around the world, and a new study puts forth a relatively simple explanation for their height: Their shorter step lengths make it a lot easier for them to walk around in dense jungles than it is for taller people. As Newsweek ...

Sleep May Not Be a Major Casualty of Kids' Screen Time

Researchers say using electronic devices may not have significant impact on kids' shut-eye

(Newser) - If you're worried about your kids not getting enough shut-eye because of the time they spend on their smartphones and computers, playing Xbox, or watching Netflix, new research may ease that parental guilt—somewhat. The BBC reports on a new study out of Oxford University that found any ties...

Llamas Might Save Us From the Flu
Our Saviors From the Flu 
Might Be ... Llamas
new study
Nov 2, 2018 9:00 AM CDT

Our Saviors From the Flu Might Be ... Llamas

Scientists say their unique antibodies could lead to a universal vaccine

(Newser) - The flu season is upon us, with the usual reminders to get your shot and the usual caveat that the vaccine is just a best guess—scientists' hope that it will match up well against the strains that actually surface. Now, however, a new study suggests that the guessing game...

Appendix Removal Tied to Lower Parkinson&#39;s Risk
Where Parkinson's May
Start: the Appendix
NEW STUDY
Nov 1, 2018 1:05 PM CDT

Where Parkinson's May Start: the Appendix

But scientists say don't run out and get an appendectomy just yet

(Newser) - Scientists have found a new clue that Parkinson's disease may get its start not in the brain but in the gut—maybe in the appendix. People who had their appendix removed early in life had a lower risk of getting the tremor-inducing brain disease decades later, researchers report. Why?...

Hidden Chamber, Tunnel Beneath Mexican Pyramid

It might have been used for funerals beneath Pyramid of the Moon

(Newser) - There's more than a tunnel hidden beneath Mexico's second largest pyramid. A survey using electrical resistance technology has not only confirmed the existence of a tunnel running out the southern end of the Teotihuacan's 140-foot-tall Pyramid of the Moon, but also uncovered a chamber connected to it,...

&#39;Incredible Find&#39;: World&#39;s Oldest Intact Shipwreck
'Incredible Find': World's
Oldest Intact Shipwreck
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Oct 27, 2018 7:30 AM CDT

'Incredible Find': World's Oldest Intact Shipwreck

Likely a Greek trading vessel, it dates to 500 BC

(Newser) - "A ship surviving intact from the classical world, lying in over [a mile] of water, is something I would never have believed possible." Thankfully, lead investigator Jon Adams' expectations for a mapping project of the Black Sea have been upended along with our understanding of ancient shipbuilding and...

'Brain Training' App Shows Promise for OCD Sufferers

Subjects with strong contamination fears saw significant relief of symptoms after one week

(Newser) - There literally does appear to be an app for almost everything, and treating symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder just got its own entry. Treatment for OCD (a condition in which patients can't stop having obsessive thoughts and engaging in repetitive behaviors) has been notoriously hit or miss: UPI reports that...

Cancer Study Isn&#39;t Great News for Tall People
Cancer Study Isn't Great
News for Tall People
new study
Oct 25, 2018 7:52 AM CDT

Cancer Study Isn't Great News for Tall People

Researchers see a greater risk for those of above-average height

(Newser) - A new study on cancer won't make for pleasant reading for tall people. Consider this quote from lead researcher Leonard Nunney of the University of California Riverside: "If you were comparing a 5-foot guy to a basketball player who's over 7 feet tall, then that basketball player...

In the Tower Where He Lived Before Beheading, a Find

Etching found in Tower of London could be self-portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh

(Newser) - Monday marks the 400th anniversary of Sir Walter Raleigh's beheading, and that very head is now back in the news. It's all thanks to the discovery of an etching (see it here ) concealed under layers of paint in the Tower of London's Bloody Tower, where Raleigh...

'First Evidence for Microplastics Inside Humans' Emerges

Plastic found in stool samples from people in 8 countries

(Newser) - It was only a matter of time. Scientists, following up research showing tiny particles of plastic in everything from bottled water to salt , say they've found "the first evidence for microplastics inside humans." All stool samples taken from eight participants of a small study by Environment Agency...

Da Vinci May Have Had Unique Advantage as Painter

Study suggests the artist had an eye disorder

(Newser) - Whole libraries have been written trying to explain how Leonardo da Vinci produced some of the world's most revered paintings. Now a new study suggests he had a biological edge: an eye disorder that affected his depth perception. In JAMA Ophthalmology , researchers make the case that da Vinci had...

One of the World's Biggest Organisms Is in Trouble

A Utah forest of genetically identical aspen trees is dying, says new study

(Newser) - You wouldn't know it to look at it, but a forest of aspen trees in Utah qualifies as one of the biggest—certainly the heaviest at 13 million pounds—living organisms on the planet. And scientists say it's in real danger for the first time in millennia, reports...

It&#39;s Not Pretty When a Drone Slams Into a Plane
It's Not Pretty When a
Drone Slams Into a Plane
new study
Oct 17, 2018 11:42 AM CDT

It's Not Pretty When a Drone Slams Into a Plane

Tests out of University of Dayton show what happens

(Newser) - In 2016, a drone came within 200 feet of a plane that was approaching LAX. Disaster was avoided, but what if a collision had occurred? Kevin Poormon with the University of Dayton Research Institute's impact physics division set out to find out. The answer he arrived at isn't...

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