discoveries

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

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From Viking Clothing Fragments, a 'Staggering' Find

The word 'Allah' opens the possibility that some Vikings were Muslim

(Newser) - Is it possible some Vikings were Muslim? That's a question the National Post is asking following the discovery of Viking funeral garb embroidered with ancient Arabic characters spelling "Allah." Annika Larsson of Uppsala University tells the BBC she was examining fragments of clothing discovered in 1,000-year-old...

Yellowstone's Supervolcano Could Erupt in a 'Geologic Snap'

Eruption process could take just decades, rather than centuries

(Newser) - Should it ever erupt, a supervolcano beneath Yellowstone National Park could blanket North America in an ash cloud, wipe out communications, and alter the climate. Given that eruptions of supervolcanoes buried on our planet—and there are several—are thought to occur every 100,000 years or so, however, the...

Doctors Find Way to Halt Deadly Child Brain Disease

Gene therapy is 'curative' for ALD, says doctor

(Newser) - Without a risky bone-marrow transplant before symptoms appear, children with brain disease ALD can expect to live no longer than five years as nerve cells in the brain die off and erase one's ability to walk, talk, and think. Even a successful transplant can result in permanent disabilities, reports...

Thirst for Ivory Threatens Hippos, Too
Hippos in Danger Because
of Desire for Their Teeth
NEW STUDY
Oct 5, 2017 11:02 AM CDT

Hippos in Danger Because of Desire for Their Teeth

Mismanagement in trade of hippo teeth a bad sign: researchers

(Newser) - It isn't only elephants that are suffering from humans' insatiable thirst for ivory. A new study notes hippopotamuses, already predicted by some to disappear within 100 years, may be dying at unexpected rates to fuel the trade of ivory ornaments made from hippo teeth. Since 1975, 1.7 million...

Famous Shipwreck May Still Hold Priceless Treasures

Explorers recently found a bronze arm at the Antikythera shipwreck

(Newser) - The ship bound for Rome sunk in 1BC and was first discovered off the coast of Greece in 1900. And yet the Antikythera shipwreck is still providing new discoveries. The Guardian reports an expedition to the site last month turned up a silver tankard, a human bone, and much more....

Moms Can Lower Kid's Peanut Allergy Risk From First Meal

2-step process involves mom eating peanuts while breastfeeding

(Newser) - New moms can lower their child's risk of developing a peanut allergy in the kids' very first meals, according to Canadian researchers. A study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology suggests that children breastfed by peanut-eating moms are less likely to develop a nut allergy later, reports...

Fukushima&#39;s Cesium Hiding Somewhere Unexpected
Fukushima's Cesium Hiding
Somewhere Unexpected
new study
Oct 3, 2017 9:01 AM CDT

Fukushima's Cesium Hiding Somewhere Unexpected

In the brackish water beneath beaches some 60 miles away

(Newser) - The earthquake, then the tsunami, then the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster. The implications of the devastating series of events from 2011 are still being discovered, as with September's report that the tsunami sent an armada of debris across the ocean, carrying with it at least 289 species to US...

Man Was in Vegetative State for 15 Years. Then They Tried Something New

Frenchman shows signs of awareness after nerve stimulation

(Newser) - A 35-year-old Frenchman who had been in a vegetative state since he was 20 showed signs of consciousness after a treatment that researchers say upends the idea that there is no chance of a patient recovering after being in a persistent vegetative state for more than a year. Researchers say...

Researchers May Have Found Earliest Evidence of Life
Researchers May Have Found
Earliest Evidence of Life
study says
Sep 28, 2017 10:40 AM CDT

Researchers May Have Found Earliest Evidence of Life

Scientists say rocks in Canada have traces going back 4B years

(Newser) - Japanese researchers think they may have found the earliest evidence of life on Earth on rocks in Canada. In their study in Nature , the scientists from the University of Tokyo say they detected telltale traces of material left behind by decomposing organisms 3.95 billion years ago, reports the CBC...

Think Common Rats Are Bad? This One Is 4 Times as Big
Scientist's 'Spectacular'
Discovery: a Giant Rat
NEW STUDY
Sep 27, 2017 10:50 AM CDT

Scientist's 'Spectacular' Discovery: a Giant Rat

New species is at risk in Solomon Islands, scientists say

(Newser) - Encountering a foot-and-a-half-long rat might be nightmarish for some, but for Tyrone Lavery, it heralded a once-in-a-lifetime discovery. Back in 2010, the mammalogist was exploring the Solomon Islands when he heard locals describe "vika," a giant tree-dwelling rat with teeth powerful enough to break open coconuts. Reports of...

Scientists Freak Out Fish to Find Out How Brave They Are

Guppies apparently have distinct personalities, researchers find

(Newser) - Frightening fish isn't something you'd find on most people's daily to-do lists, but for researcher Tom Houslay, it was all in a day's work. Per the Washington Post , the evolutionary biologist at the University of Exeter gave his team the task of determining if the fish...

Great Mystery of the Great Lakes Is Solved
Great Mystery of the
Great Lakes Is Solved
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sep 24, 2017 5:33 PM CDT

Great Mystery of the Great Lakes Is Solved

SS Clifton found 100 miles south of last known location in Lake Huron

(Newser) - "Of the remaining shipwrecks left to find in the Great Lakes, the Clifton would easily be number one," says shipwreck hunter David Trotter. That's because the disappearance of the SS Clifton in 1924 is "one of the Great Lakes' greatest mysteries"—and one that Trotter...

WWI Soldiers May Have Been Found in North Sea
For 23, WWI
U-Boat May Have
Become a Coffin
in case you missed it
Sep 23, 2017 9:39 AM CDT

For 23, WWI U-Boat May Have Become a Coffin

Sunken sub found off the coast of Belgium

(Newser) - Eleven German submarines from World War I have been found sunk in Belgian waters. The latest to be discovered, however, is the "best preserved" of all, officials say. The U-boat, 88 feet long by 20 feet wide, has been found in an undisclosed location off the Belgian coast near...

Scientists Find Surprise in 75M-Year-Old Dino Poop

'Herbivores' might have eaten shellfish, say researchers

(Newser) - One of the most common herbivores of the dinosaur era might have been, well, not an herbivore. Fossilized poop likely to have come from a duck-billed dinosaur that roamed southern Utah some 75 million years ago contains ancient shellfish, shaking what researchers thought they knew about hadrosaurs and other egg-laying...

67M-Year-Old Dinosaur Eggs Upend a Long-Held Assumption

It turns out all dinosaur eggs weren't white

(Newser) - Feathers, wishbones, colored eggs. If they're things you associate as only found in birds, you're wrong, says paleontologist Mark Norell. It turns out dinosaurs evolved all three, though we've only just recently learned about that last item. The discovery of fossil egg-shells in China has upended the...

Kids Grow Up Too Fast? Not Anymore
Why Today's Teens
Don't Act Their Age
NEW STUDY
Sep 19, 2017 10:10 AM CDT

Why Today's Teens Don't Act Their Age

'Helicopter parenting' is one factor, researchers say

(Newser) - Compared to a generation ago, today's young people are dawdling when it comes to experiencing behaviors traditionally seen as precursors to adulthood: drinking, driving, having sex, and joining the workforce. As a result, they're often called "lazy"—but that's not exactly accurate. According to researchers,...

Tattoos May Leave Toxins in Lymph Nodes
Clean Needles Aren't the
Only Tattoo Concern
NEW STUDY
Sep 18, 2017 9:39 AM CDT

Clean Needles Aren't the Only Tattoo Concern

Ask about the chemicals in the ink—your lymph nodes could be tainted from them

(Newser) - Besides getting stuck with a Hello Kitty tattoo for life, there's another downside to getting skin ink: Microscopic particles can taint your lymph nodes. A new study found that after a person gets a tat, nano traces of the ink containing preservatives and contaminants work their way into the...

Low-Level Crime Pays Pretty Well
Low-Level
Crime Pays
Pretty Well
NEW STUDY
Sep 17, 2017 9:45 AM CDT

Low-Level Crime Pays Pretty Well

Criminals make double the average made legally by high school dropouts

(Newser) - Crime not only pays, it pays relatively well—about $900 per week. So say researchers who compared past surveys of nonviolent, low-level criminals to come up with the best guess on their illegal earnings. Such a figure isn't easy to reach since criminals aren't keen to report illegal...

Hunters Find Ancient Sword Still Ready for Action

Viking artifact, found on mountain, is just a little rusty

(Newser) - A Norwegian archaeologist says a well-preserved, if rusty, iron sword dating to the Viking era has been found in southern Norway. Lars Holger Piloe says the nearly 3-foot-long sword was found slid down between rocks with the blade sticking out, and may have been left by a person who got...

Earliest Known Use of Zero Found by Farmer in Pakistan

The Bakhshali manuscript dates to the 3rd or 4th century

(Newser) - When it comes to mathematics, zero is not nothing. And thanks to new research and some carbon dating, we now know "zero" as we know it was invented a whole lot earlier than we thought. "Today we take it for granted that the concept of zero is used...

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