discoveries

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

Stories 1461 - 1480 | << Prev   Next >>

These Trees Know Where They Are on the Planet

Cook pines mysteriously lean toward the equator

(Newser) - Most trees grow straight, but the Cook pine leans another way. As a new study reveals, the tree leans toward the equator no matter where it grows, giving it what Science Alert calls a "drunken-looking slant." Matthew Ritter of California Polytechnic State University first became curious about the...

Rock Climbing May Help Beat Depression
Depressed? Try
Rock Climbing 
NEW STUDY

Depressed? Try Rock Climbing

New research shows that scaling a rock face may help ease depression

(Newser) - Heading out for a weekend climb or scaling the rock wall at the gym may be good therapy for treating depression, new research shows. A University of Arizona study found that a form of rock climbing eased depression symptoms in participants from moderate to mild levels after eight weeks, Inverse...

New Theory on When Babies Should Be in Own Room
New Theory
on When 
Babies Should
Be in Own Room
NEW STUDY

New Theory on When Babies Should Be in Own Room

Study suggests moving them out of parents' room at 6 months improves sleep

(Newser) - More fodder for the debate on when babies should be sleeping in their own rooms: A new study in Pediatrics suggests 6 months of age is a good target, which generally contradicts advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The AAP says babies should sleep in the same room as...

Medical Costs Spike for Bike Injuries
Medical Costs Spike
for Bike Injuries
NEW STUDY

Medical Costs Spike for Bike Injuries

Men account for most of it

(Newser) - Taking a bike ride can offer various health benefits, but along with those pros come the cons: notably, the risk of being seriously hurt in an accident. UC San Francisco researchers say such incidences have risen steadily for adults since the late 1990s, with more visits to the ER and...

You Can Cut Hand-Washing Time in Half
You Can Cut
Hand-Washing
Time in Half
NEW STUDY

You Can Cut Hand-Washing Time in Half

10 seconds appears to do the trick: Rutgers study

(Newser) - You don't need to risk scalding yourself in order to get clean hands. According to researchers, washing your hands in cold water is just as effective at reducing bacteria as washing your hands in hot water. That's based on a small study of 21 people described in the...

More Studying, Less Playing Is Good for Preschoolers
More Studying, Less Playing
Is Good for Preschoolers
NEW STUDY

More Studying, Less Playing Is Good for Preschoolers

Study finds 'academic-oriented' pre-kindergarten programs help kids

(Newser) - If you think preschool is all about playing with dolls and blocks, think again. There's a growing trend toward more rigorous, scholarly preschools—and a new study supports the idea, finding that children who attended a year at an "academic-oriented" preschool were performing better academically by the end...

In an Unexplored Abyss, Faceless Fish Swim

The creature was first dredged up in the 1870s

(Newser) - It was first dredged up in 1870s off Papua New Guinea, and now scientists say they've hauled one up from the deep once again: a so-called faceless fish. The AFP reports on the scientific bounty collected two weeks into a month-long expedition off the eastern side of Australia, where...

Pity the Hot Scientists
Pity the
Hot Scientists 


NEW STUDY

Pity the Hot Scientists

Study finds we don't take them as seriously as their nerdy, frumpy counterparts

(Newser) - Hot scientists may not have careers that are so hot, according to, well, scientists who find that the laboratory is apparently the anti-Hollywood. The researchers, whose work was published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists , asked roughly 3,700 participants to rate the headshots of 600...

These Snakes Don't Capture Prey Like You Might Expect

Cuban boas apparently coordinate the hunt

(Newser) - Time to nix that belief you've been clinging to that snakes are "mostly solitary and stupid," Vladimir Dinets tells Gizmodo . The University of Tennessee researcher has found one particular Caribbean species that apparently hunts together. Dinets' study in the Animal Behavior and Cognition journal details his research...

Marijuana Extract a &#39;Game-Changing Medication&#39;
Marijuana Extract
a 'Game-Changing
Medication'
NEW STUDY

Marijuana Extract a 'Game-Changing Medication'

Epilepsy patients who took CBD experienced fewer seizures: study

(Newser) - Backing up what some parents have been claiming for years, researchers are now hailing a compound in marijuana as a "game-changing medication" for epilepsy. Based on testimonials from parents, Orrin Devinsky of NYU's Comprehensive Epilepsy Center set out to find proof that epilepsy could be treated with cannabidiol...

Flamingo&#39;s One-Legged Mystery, (Somewhat) Solved
Flamingo's One-Legged
Mystery, (Somewhat) Solved
NEW STUDY

Flamingo's One-Legged Mystery, (Somewhat) Solved

Scientists say the birds expend less energy on a single leg than on 2

(Newser) - Ever wonder why flamingos stand on one leg? So did two Georgia scientists, and their research has found the birds appear to expend less energy when they do so, the BBC reports. A study published in the Biology Letters journal examined both live and dead flamingos and explains how living...

Even One Drink a Day Can Up Breast Cancer Risk
Even One Drink a Day Can
Up Breast Cancer Risk
NEW STUDY

Even One Drink a Day Can Up Breast Cancer Risk

Regular physical activity, on the other hand, may have the opposite effect

(Newser) - Just one alcoholic drink per day—even a teeny one—may not bode well for women on the breast cancer front, reports the Washington Post . That's the conclusion of a large-scale review by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research fund that took a closer...

American Trees Are Moving West, Flummoxing Experts

Trees in eastern forests are moving west by about 9.5 miles per decade

(Newser) - Go west, young tree! A study published Wednesday in Science Advances finds the trees of eastern American forests are on the move—and none too slowly, either. The study looked at 86 tree species between 1980 and 2015, Smithsonian reports. Over those 35 years, 73% of the trees saw their...

As Doctor&#39;s Age Climbs, So Does Patient Death Rate
As Doctor's Age Climbs,
So Does Patient Death Rate
NEW STUDY

As Doctor's Age Climbs, So Does Patient Death Rate

Researchers say finding is 'clinically important'

(Newser) - Having a more experienced doctor might not be best. That's the message from a Harvard Medical School study published in the British Medical Journal that appears to show patient mortality rate increases with the age of a doctor. The increase is small but significant: In a study of more...

Not Sleeping Well? People May Avoid You
Not Sleeping Well?
People May Avoid You
NEW STUDY

Not Sleeping Well? People May Avoid You

People are less inclined to socialize with someone who looks tired: study

(Newser) - Beauty sleep is no myth. A new study out of Stockholm University published in the Royal Society Open Science journal finds a lack of sleep makes a person look "significantly" less attractive, per the BBC . And that's not all. Swollen eyelids and dark circles around the eyes might...

This Is the Longest-Nursing of Any Primate
This Is the
Longest-Nursing
of Any Primate
study says

This Is the Longest-Nursing of Any Primate

Orangutans set a record, researchers find

(Newser) - Orangutans nurse their young for up to eight years or longer, a new study finds—a record for primates. As National Geographic notes, it's difficult to study orangutans in the wild since they're so often out of sight in trees, but it's important for conservationists to know...

A Bite From T. Rex Brings to Mind a Rocky III Quote
T. Rex Had a Bite So
Powerful It's Hard to Fathom
new study

T. Rex Had a Bite So Powerful It's Hard to Fathom

Chompers came down with equivalent force of 3 small cars

(Newser) - Scientists already knew Tyrannosaurus rex had a ferocious bite, but a new study in Scientific Reports spells out in detail just how fearsome it was. In terms of raw numbers, they measured the bite force at nearly 8,000 pounds, with the tip of the teeth exerting pressure of around...

In Spate of Recent Finds, Egypt Unearths an Unusual One

Necropolis with 17 human mummies a rare find in area known for mummified animals

(Newser) - An Egyptian archaeological mission has found a necropolis holding at least 17 mummies near the Nile Valley city of Minya, in the first such find in the area, the antiquities ministry said on Saturday. The discovery was made in the village of Tuna al-Gabal, reports the AP , a vast archaeological...

Scientists Spot Grisly First Among Deer
Scientists Spot
Grisly First Among Deer
in case you missed it

Scientists Spot Grisly First Among Deer

They're seen scavenging on human remains for the first time

(Newser) - When scientists dropped a human carcass in the woods to study its decomposition, they expected the usual suspects such as vultures and raccoons to show up to speed things along. Their cameras, however, also picked up an unexpected visitor: a deer. In fact, it's the first time a deer...

&#39;Healthiest Dead Things You&#39;ll Ever See&#39; Found in S. Africa
Bones Found in 2nd Chamber
of Cave Spur Huge Questions
in case you missed it

Bones Found in 2nd Chamber of Cave Spur Huge Questions

More bones unearthed from H. naledi species, upending evolution beliefs

(Newser) - In 2015 it was a discovery described as "unlike anything we have seen." Now even more so. A second chamber in a South African cave system has produced bones belonging to Homo naledi, a species scientists now believe may have existed around the same time as Homo sapiens...

Stories 1461 - 1480 | << Prev   Next >>