discoveries

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

Stories 1221 - 1240 | << Prev   Next >>

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...

Bones of Fearsome Pirate May Have Been Found

Remains pulled from the wreckage of the Whydah Gally will be tested

(Newser) - When the Whydah Gally went down in a 1717 storm 144 lives were lost —none so noteworthy as that of Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy. The New England Historical Society describes the pirate as infamous, but not infamously cruel: As historian Colin Woodard puts it, he followed a credo...

Women's Paternal Grandmas May Be Tied to This Type of Cancer

Women's risk for ovarian cancer may be passed down from the father's side of the family

(Newser) - Sons inherit a baldness gene from their moms, and now scientists are pointing to another parent-child link on the opposite side. Per the BBC , fathers can pass down a gene mutation to their daughters that can raise the risk of ovarian cancer, per a study published Thursday in Plos Genetics ...

6 Hairs in Library Book Came From Famous Head

That would be George Washington

(Newser) - You don't expect a hair-raising discovery to come from a book of population estimates for the American colonies, especially one with the boring title of "Gaines Universal Register or American and British Kalendar for the Year 1793." Yet buried in the volume kept on a library shelf...

For Those on 10% More 'Ultra-Processed' Food, Up Go Cancer Numbers

Scientists say they need to do a lot more research, though

(Newser) - Those snack cakes and chicken nuggets may be tasty, but they may also be upping your chances of cancer, according to a new study out of Sorbonne Paris Cite University. The research published in BMJ looked at the consumption of "ultra-processed" foods—the BBC has a list of edibles...

These Might Be the Only Non-Human War Medics

Researchers observe Matabele ants licking wounded warriors back to health

(Newser) - A species of African ant lives a life so fierce that it's become expert at wartime triage. In fact, the behavior exhibited by Matabele ants marks the first time that non-humans have been observed "systematically nursing their wounded back to health," per National Geographic . Researchers lay it...

&#39;Cheddar Man&#39;s&#39; DNA Reveals Surprise About Early Brits
'Cheddar Man's'
DNA Reveals
Surprise About
Early Brits
In Case You Missed It
Feb 10, 2018 6:09 PM CST

'Cheddar Man's' DNA Reveals Surprise About Early Brits

The earliest modern Brits had 'dark to black' skin

(Newser) - Think of a stereotypical Brit and you may imagine a pale cast member from Downton Abbey. A new study, however, shows early modern Brits from 10,000 years ago, who migrated from Europe over a land bridge into England, may not have been quite as pale as many of their...

9 'Cocktail'-Infused Eggs a 'Breakthrough' for Fertility

For the first time, human eggs were grown from earliest stages to maturity in the lab

(Newser) - What's being deemed a "breakthrough" for women's fertility has been achieved out of the University of Edinburgh. Researchers say that for the very first time, they've developed human eggs in the lab from their earliest points of growth to full maturity, offering insight into how science...

Spike in Suicides Followed Death of Robin Williams

Researchers can't prove his suicide caused copycats, but the numbers did rise after he died

(Newser) - The world was shocked by the August 2014 death of Robin Williams , but "middle-aged men in despair" may have taken his suicide especially hard, Reuters notes. For a study published Wednesday in Plos One , researchers sifted through CDC data from 1999 through 2015 and found that there was a...

Study Links Food Compound to Spread of Cancer

Asparagus may be cancer's favorite vegetable

(Newser) - Making big changes to your diet could deprive cancer of a nutrient that it needs to spread throughout the body, researchers say. A study published in the journal Nature links asparagine—an amino acid found in many foods, including asparagus, beef, poultry, nuts, and potatoes—to the spread of secondary...

Neanderthals Expertly Made Tools Still in Use Today

These were no dummies, say researchers in Italy

(Newser) - Modern hunter-gatherers used "digging sticks," crafted from wood, to search for edible roots and tubers, as well as to hunt. It's a tradition that stretches back at least 171,000 years, according to a new PNAS study. Digging in Italy, scientists have uncovered 58 wooden tools—including...

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