discoveries

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

Stories 221 - 240 | << Prev   Next >>

After Years of Research, Expert Advice: Burn California's Forests

Burning, thinning, or a combination of both found to make trees more resilient to wildfire, drought

(Newser) - The findings of a 20-year study on the health of California forests will come as no surprise to Native Americans, whose ancestors traditionally managed land through controlled fires . The study out of the University of California-Berkeley confirms that prescribed burning, the use of controlled fire to clear debris; restoration thinning,...

This Is Why Everyone Says Don't Hold In Sneezes

Man in his 30s tears hole in windpipe while trying to suppress the sneezing sensation

(Newser) - We've all likely heard cryptic warnings over the years about what will happen if you try to suppress a sneeze, and one case study now shows those warnings may not be unwarranted. In what it says is the first case of its kind, Live Science reports on a man...

2 Remarkable Fossils Shed New Light on Dinosaurs

Pliosaur skull in the UK and a young tyrannosaur's last meal in Canada

(Newser) - Two notable fossil discoveries are providing paleontologists with new information about dinosaurs:
  • Pliosaur: The giant skull of a beast described by one scientist as "an underwater T. Rex" was found on a cliff in Dorset in the UK, reports the BBC . The pliosaur skull is about 7 feet long
...

Buds Dormant for Centuries Save Redwoods After Fire
Redwoods Surprise Scientists
With a Survival Tactic
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 9, 2023 12:10 PM CST

Redwoods Surprise Scientists With a Survival Tactic

Decades-old reserves of carbon brought centuries-old buds to life

(Newser) - You don't survive up to 2,000 years without learning a trick or two, and ancient redwoods in California have revealed one of theirs to researchers. Some of the trees that were thought to have been damaged beyond repair during 2020 wildfires in Big Basin Redwoods State Park are...

After 3 Months of Wasabi, Subjects Saw 'Dramatic Change'

Those who ingested wasabi saw 'dramatic change' in participants' short- and long-term memory

(Newser) - Want to boost your memory? Smear some extra wasabi on your sushi. That's the findings out of Japan's Tohoku University, where a team of scientists have found that indulging in the spicy green condiment can improve both short-term and long-term memory. In the double-blind, randomized study published in...

New Find in Pompeii: a Bakery-Prison for Slaves
New Find in Pompeii:
a Bakery-Prison for Slaves
NEW STUDY
Dec 8, 2023 12:49 PM CST

New Find in Pompeii: a Bakery-Prison for Slaves

Enslaved people ground grain in cramped room with barred windows, say experts

(Newser) - The discovery of a cramped room with barred windows in Pompeii has revealed what one expert describes as a "most shocking side of ancient slavery." Archaeologists, who found the room in the working quarters of a large house whose living quarters were lavishly decorated with frescoes and marble...

For Many, Consequences of Giving Birth Go on for Years

Research finds more than a third of postpartum patients suffer long-term health issues

(Newser) - Researchers are calling for more of a spotlight on the long-term health of postpartum patients following the release of a study showing that more than a third of them suffer from lasting issues after giving birth, per the World Health Organization , one of the study's supporters. In the study...

'Bunch of Amateurs' Uncover Lost Tudor Palace

Royal manor house at Collyweston was visited by kings and queens

(Newser) - They had "no money, no expertise, no plans." Yet a group of amateur archaeologists have managed to find a lost English palace visited by kings and queens, which had become the stuff of legend. The village of Collyweston in Northamptonshire lies on the medieval route that connected London...

Discovery May Explain Why Cancer Often Spreads to Spine
Researchers May Have
Cracked a Cancer Enigma
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 2, 2023 6:00 AM CST

Researchers May Have Cracked a Cancer Enigma

Newly discovered stem cell in spine could explain why so many cancers spread there

(Newser) - Scientists have long known that cancers often spread to the spine, but they haven't known why. A new discovery may provide an answer—and point to ways to keep cancerous cells in check, reports Science News . Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine report in the journal Nature that they've...

These Penguins Are Micro-Nap Masters
These Penguins
Sleep a Few
Seconds
at a Time
new study
Nov 30, 2023 1:44 PM CST

These Penguins Sleep a Few Seconds at a Time

Chinstrap penguins are micro-nap masters while guarding their young

(Newser) - It's a challenge for all new parents: Getting enough sleep while keeping a close eye on their newborns. For some penguins, it means thousands of mini-catnaps a day, researchers have discovered. Chinstrap penguins in Antarctica need to guard their eggs and chicks around-the-clock in crowded, noisy colonies. So they...

Not Seen for 80 Years, This Little Guy Reappears

De Winton's golden mole was presumed extinct

(Newser) - Researchers in South Africa say they have rediscovered a species of mole with an iridescent golden coat and the ability to almost "swim" through sand dunes after it hadn't been seen for more than 80 years and was thought to be extinct. The De Winton's golden mole—...

6-Planet Solar System in Milky Way Has Scientists in Awe

'My jaw was on the floor,' says one of discovery made by NASA, ESA planet-hunting satellites

(Newser) - Astronomers have discovered a rare in-sync solar system with six planets moving like a grand cosmic orchestra, untouched by outside forces since their birth billions of years ago. The find, announced Wednesday in the journal Nature, can help explain how solar systems across the Milky Way galaxy came to be....

For Green Sea Turtles, a Big Problem: Too Many Girls
Pollution Has Unexpected
Effect on Green Sea Turtles
new study
Nov 27, 2023 11:48 AM CST

Pollution Has Unexpected Effect on Green Sea Turtles

Researchers say it's helping create too many females

(Newser) - For male green sea turtles, it's the second part of a double whammy they could ill afford. A new study suggests that ocean pollution is contributing to a serious gender imbalance—way too many females are being born and way too few males, reports Science Alert . As the Washington ...

Move Over Helicopter Parents. Meet the Hunter-Gatherers

New research looks at the benefits of more communal parenting styles

(Newser) - Move over helicopter parents , tiger moms , and bulldozer dads—a new parenting style (that's quite ancient, actually), would like to take the floor. According to the Hill , a new paper in Developmental Psychology takes a look at the merits of hunter-gatherer childrearing through observations of modern societies like the...

Man Films Bat Sex in Church, Makes Surprise Discovery
Man Films Bat Sex in Church,
Makes Surprise Discovery
in case you missed it
Nov 25, 2023 2:15 PM CST

Man Films Bat Sex in Church, Makes Surprise Discovery

Serotine bat thought to be only known mammal to have sex without penetration

(Newser) - There was a lot of sex happening in the church attic—but without humans and, weirdly, without penetration. Indeed, as scientists describe in a new study, it was the first time a mammal—specifically, the serotine bat native to Europe and Asia—was documented reproducing without penetrative sex. Scientists had...

More Pregnant, Postpartum Women Dying of Overdoses
More Pregnant, Postpartum
Women Dying of Overdoses
new study
Nov 24, 2023 10:10 AM CST

More Pregnant, Postpartum Women Dying of Overdoses

Study finds ratio jumped between 2018 and 2021

(Newser) - A January study found mortality rates for pregnant women and new mothers worsened during the pandemic, and a new study zeroes in on one such cause: overdoses. Researchers with the National Institute on Drug Abuse reviewed data on more than 17,000 deaths over the 2018 to 2021 period; STAT...

Aftershocks Can Come Centuries Later
We Might Still Feel
Aftershocks From
1800s Quakes
new study
Nov 23, 2023 12:50 PM CST

We Might Still Feel Aftershocks From 1800s Quakes

So finds a new study that looked at three historical North American quakes

(Newser) - If you live around the Missouri-Kentucky border and have experienced an earthquake, there's a roughly 30% chance it was an aftershock from a trio of quakes that struck the area between 1811 and 1812, or so says a new study. The Guardian reports on the research into the lifespan...

Jellyfish Suggest Deep-Sea Mining Could Be a Problem
Is Jellyfish Mucus a
Warning Sign of Sorts?
discoveries
Nov 22, 2023 11:23 AM CST

Is Jellyfish Mucus a Warning Sign of Sorts?

Experiment suggests deep-sea mining could potentially hurt the creatures

(Newser) - The rush to find the minerals needed to power our batteries and other electronics has mining companies looking to the seafloor—but at what potential cost to the marine life that lives above it? A study published Tuesday in Nature Communications aimed to answer that question using jellyfish, and as...

AI Can Predict How Drunk You Are
AI Can Predict How
Drunk You Are
NEW STUDY
Nov 19, 2023 4:55 PM CST

AI Can Predict How Drunk You Are

Researchers trained AI to measure intoxication based on people reciting tongue twisters

(Newser) - Start practicing your tongue twisters, because artificial intelligence might be judging your sobriety on how well you recite them soon. At least that's what some researchers suggest after conducting a study analyzing intoxication levels based on speech that had remarkable accuracy. The Guardian walks through the findings in their...

It's a 'Pivotal Milestone' Courtesy of Webb Telescope

In a first, chemical composition of an exoplanet's clouds definitively identified

(Newser) - The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed details of an "absolutely hostile" planet where it rains, not water, but particles of silicate sand, which whip around at speeds of a couple of miles per second. The gas giant Wasp-107b, some 200 light years away in the Virgo constellation, is...

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