discoveries

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

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Santa&#39;s Reindeer Are Shrinking
Santa's Reindeer
Are Shrinking
Dec 12, 2016 8:29 AM CST

Santa's Reindeer Are Shrinking

Blame warmer temperatures, say scientists

(Newser) - Santa might need to recruit a few extra reindeer this year. According to Scottish scientists, Arctic reindeer are shrinking in size. Scientists weighed 135 reindeer on Norway's Svalbard archipelago, about 800 miles from the North Pole, each April from 1994 to 2015 and found the animals shrank from 121...

Man Walks Into Auction House With Long-Lost Da Vinci

'An exciting discovery'

(Newser) - A Metropolitan Museum of Art curator says that when she took her first look at a newly surfaced drawing that a Paris auction wanted a second opinion on, her heart started pounding and her eyes "jumped out of their sockets." Carmen Bambach, the Met's curator of Italian...

Our Days Are a Smidge Longer Than They Used to Be
Our Days 
Are a Smidge
Longer Than
They Used to Be
study says
Dec 10, 2016 8:33 AM CST

Our Days Are a Smidge Longer Than They Used to Be

Which we know thanks to some meticulous ancient astronomers

(Newser) - The meticulous work of ancient astronomers has led to a modern observation: Our days are longer than they used to be. Not that you'd notice: The new research in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A shows that it takes the Earth a tiny bit longer these days to...

Dino Surprise: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Also: the return of the 'psychedelic slinky'

(Newser) - A first-of-its-kind discovery about dinosaurs in a most unusual place and a potentially scary study for those who groom "down there" make the list:
  • Scientists Find Dinosaur Tail Preserved in Amber : Researchers were perusing an amber market in Myanmar when they stumbled across a truly extraordinary specimen. Trapped inside
...

Hero King's Unknown Face Now Revealed

Two versions, one with leprosy and one without, attempt to show us the leader

(Newser) - Robert the Bruce, King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329 and perhaps most famous for defeating the English army at the Battle of Bannockburn, has been dead some 700 years, but we're just now getting a good idea of what he might have looked like. Without...

Major Dino Discovery Made in Amber Meant for Jewelry

Scientists have found a feathery dinosaur tail

(Newser) - Researchers were perusing an amber market in Myanmar when they stumbled across a truly extraordinary specimen, National Geographic reports. Trapped inside a golden piece of amber—already partially shaped to be sold as jewelry—was a fully feathered section of a dinosaur's tail. According to the Los Angeles Times...

A Surprise 'Silent Extinction': Giraffes

IUCN report reveals 'devastating' decline of nearly 40% over past 30 years

(Newser) - No one used to pay much mind to the giraffes that roamed Africa. But new numbers from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature show a significant decline in their population over the past three decades and have conservationists worried that the elegant creature is falling victim to what...

Humans Have Made 30 Trillion Tons of Stuff

That's 110 pounds per square meter of the Earth's surface

(Newser) - Humans have built a ton of things to keep us alive on this twirling little rock: farms, airports, roads, CDs, houses, computers, landfills, and so forth. All these things are known as the technosphere, and for the first time ever—in a study published last month in the Anthropocene Review...

'Psychedelic Slinky' Spotted for First Time in 100 Years

Weird sea creature of legends found off California coast

(Newser) - In 1899, a Leipzig University marine biologist named Carl Chun came across a see-through "sea blob" in the southern Atlantic, and its existence hasn't been confirmed since—until now. Live Science reports on the Bathochordaeus charon invertebrate (what it describes as a "psychedelic Slinky"), recently spotted...

Make TSA PreCheck Free, Everyone Wins

There's a Way
to Cut TSA Lines
and TSA Costs
STUDY SAYS
Dec 6, 2016 2:44 PM CST

There's a Way to Cut TSA Lines and TSA Costs

Waive the PreCheck fee, researchers say

(Newser) - Millions of people pay for the privilege of leaving their shoes and belts on and their laptops in their bags during airport security screenings. But a study out of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign says by making the TSA's PreCheck program free—it's currently $85 for the...

Study Suggests You Should Leave Your Pubic Hair Alone

Researchers see higher rate of sexually transmitted infections among groomers

(Newser) - People who groom their pubic hair regularly are more likely to have a sexually transmitted infection, say researchers in a new study. To be clear, the researchers aren't saying that the grooming itself helps lead to the STI, reports Live Science . While it's possible that's the case—...

Smoke Just a Little Bit? It&#39;ll Still Kill You
Smoke Just a Little Bit?
It'll Still Kill You
study says
Dec 6, 2016 6:50 AM CST

Smoke Just a Little Bit? It'll Still Kill You

Silver lining: The sooner you quit, the lower the risks

(Newser) - More bad news for smokers, this time for those who think that cutting back will help their health. It turns out that while people who smoke between one and 10 cigarettes a day have an 87% higher risk of earlier death compared to those who've never smoked, people who...

&#39;Leaning Tower of SF&#39; Is Sinking Faster Than Thought
'Leaning Tower of SF' Is
Sinking Faster Than Thought
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 4, 2016 5:21 PM CST

'Leaning Tower of SF' Is Sinking Faster Than Thought

Satellite images show descent of Millennium Tower

(Newser) - There's no question that the 58-story Millennium Tower in downtown San Francisco is both sinking and tilting. But new satellite images find that its progress into the sand below is nearly twice the pace previously thought—close to two inches a year instead of one, reports NBC News . Since...

This Might Be World's First Polluted River

Researchers find riverbed with copper pollution from 7,000 years ago

(Newser) - It's no surprise that humans pollute their waterways, but now it appears we've been doing it a lot longer than thought. In a study published this month in Science of the Total Environment , researchers say they've found evidence of a polluted river from 7,000 years ago....

Shrooms: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

A surprise under a Mexican supermarket made the list

(Newser) - A study suggesting that magic mushrooms have a place in the cancer ward and a surprise find under a Mexican supermarket were among the discoveries of the week:
  • Magic Mushrooms Had Big Effect on Cancer Patients : Two studies of cancer patients with symptoms of depression and anxiety suggest that a
...

Surprise Find: Florida Python Ate 3 Deer

This is not good news for the Everglades ecosystem

(Newser) - Wildlife officials in Florida have known for a while that Burmese pythons have been eating their way through the Everglades, but the study of one particular snake has surprised them with the extent of that appetite: The 15-foot female had eaten three white-tailed deer in the 90 days before her...

Star of Bethlehem May Have Been Something Much Rarer

We might not be able to expect Jesus back for another 500K years at least

(Newser) - Christmas cards and carols have been lying to us for years. The Bible says the Star of Bethlehem—or "Christmas Star"—was followed by Magi bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the birthplace of Jesus. But one Notre Dame professor says the famous star wasn't...

These Mummy Legs Likely Belong to a Great Queen
These Mummy Legs Likely
Belong to a Great Queen
STUDY SAYS
Dec 2, 2016 5:00 AM CST

These Mummy Legs Likely Belong to a Great Queen

Researchers think they are the remains of Egypt's Nefertari

(Newser) - Archaeologists say they've likely identified the mummified remains of "one of the truly great and important queens of Egypt," in the same league as Nefertiti and Cleopatra. Three portions of mummified legs found more than a century ago in the looted tomb of Queen Nefertari—wife of...

Insomniacs Can Go Online to Get Shut-Eye


Need Sleep?
Go Online
STUDY SAYS
Dec 1, 2016 5:21 PM CST

Need Sleep? Go Online

Study says new online therapy program is helping sleepless subjects

(Newser) - A 70-year-old Californian who'd suffered from longtime insomnia had tapped into almost every remedy to no avail—until she tried out a new online therapy that has her "sleeping much better now," she tells the New York Times . The automated program, called SHUTi , is an online adaptation...

650-Year-Old Temple Found Under Mexican Supermarket

It's believed to have been built to worship the god of wind

(Newser) - Working at the site of a demolished supermarket in Mexico City, archaeologists only had to dig 10 feet down to find a temple built more than 650 years ago, researchers said Wednesday. The circular platform, about 36 feet in diameter and 4 feet tall, now sits in the shadow of...

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