discoveries

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

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Study: Lucy Fell 40 Feet to Her Death 3M Years Ago

But not all agree with the new theory

(Newser) - The famous human ancestor known as Lucy walked the Earth some 3 million years ago , but it was her tree climbing that might have led to her demise, a new study suggests. An analysis of her partial skeleton reveals breaks in her right arm, left shoulder, right ankle, and left...

Hello, Out There: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a very old tree

(Newser) - A strange diagnosis and an intriguing discovery in deep space make the list:
  • Scientists Find Earth-like Planet Close By : After scanning the vast reaches of the cosmos for Earth-like planets where life might exist, astronomers have found one right next door. A rocky planet only slightly bigger than our own
...

Prospector Strikes Gold: a $190K Chunk of It

'I thought it was rubbish at first,' he says of 9-pound Aussie discovery

(Newser) - Wednesday saw what could be the world's largest-ever pearl ; Thursday, a massive gold nugget weighing in at around 9 pounds. Found in central Victoria's Golden Triangle in Australia by an explorer who wishes to stay anonymous, per ABC.net.au , the gleaming chunk of precious metal, estimated to...

He Was Minimally Conscious, Until an Ultrasound Treatment

It's first time this type of ultrasound was used to jumpstart the brain

(Newser) - Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles , are reporting on the "remarkable" recovery of a 25-year-old man who had been in a coma, following a simple and brief exposure to low-energy ultrasound targeting the thalamus; that's the part of the human brain that is typically impaired after...

Scientists 'Hit the Jackpot' With Outer-Space Discovery

Earth-like planet found right next-door

(Newser) - After scanning the vast reaches of the cosmos for Earth-like planets where life might exist, astronomers have found one right next door, the AP reports. A planet that is rocky like Earth and only slightly bigger has been discovered orbiting Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our solar system, scientists...

Incredible Photos Emerge of WWII Ship Sunk 65 Years Ago

USS Independence is remarkably well-preserved

(Newser) - The USS Independence has remained submerged a half-mile deep off the coast of California for 65 years, out of human sight since it was purposely relegated to the bottom of the ocean by the US Navy in 1951, reportedly with a bunch of 50-gallon barrels containing radioactive waste, per the...

Fisherman Has Craziest Pearl Tale You'll Ever Hear

If it's legit, he found the world's biggest

(Newser) - There are fish tales, and now there's this doozy of a pearl tale from a fisherman in the Philippines. If it turns out to be true, the world has a new largest pearl, by a mile. As first reported by the Palawan News , the unidentified man says he was...

When Columbus Set Sail, This Tree Was 500 Years Old

'Adonis' is Europe's oldest tree

(Newser) - When it comes to ancient things, the United States has Europe beat on one front: A bristlecone pine found in California's White Mountains was shown to be more than 5,000 years old, an age that dwarfs what was on Monday announced as Europe's oldest officially dated tree....

Scientists Make Shrunken, See-Through Lab Mice

'We can look into the wiring of the whole mouse in high resolution'

(Newser) - If your initial reaction is one of queasiness, it would be understandable: A new technique announced Monday in Nature Methods essentially allows scientists to make dead mice see-through—by stripping the lipids and water from the animals' tissues. The fat is what makes the tissues opaque; the removal of water...

You Don&#39;t Know as Many Words as You Think You Do
You Don't Know as Many
Words as You Think You Do
STUDY SAYS
Aug 20, 2016 2:40 PM CDT

You Don't Know as Many Words as You Think You Do

Maybe about 42K if you're a 20-year-old, slightly more if you're older—but definitely not 200K

(Newser) - You don't have to be a lexicographer to have a pretty ample lexicon—but your word knowledge still may not be as ample as you think. At least, that's according to a Ghent University study published in the Frontiers in Psychology , said to be the largest ever of...

World's Largest Pyramid Was Mistaken as a Mountain

It withstood even the lethal advances of Spanish conquistadors

(Newser) - When Hernan Cortez and his Spanish army marched into Cholula in present-day Mexico nearly 500 years ago, they were greeted by a peaceful people prone to building pyramids instead of stockpiles of weapons. Those people and their pyramids fell, and fast, with 10% of the local population murdered in a...

Old Gold: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a Great Lakes shipwreck

(Newser) - Some historically ancient gold and a surprising find about a Stonehenge-like monument are among the notable discoveries of the week:
  • This Might Be Mankind's Oldest Gold : It measures just 0.16 inches in diameter and weighs just 0.005 ounces, but its importance could be countless magnitudes of that:
...

Lazy Contact Care Can Mess Up Eyes Long Term
Lazy Contact Care Can
Mess Up Eyes Long Term
NEW STUDY
Aug 19, 2016 12:23 PM CDT

Lazy Contact Care Can Mess Up Eyes Long Term

Nearly 20% of eye infections from contacts result in more serious eye injuries: CDC

(Newser) - Sleeping with contacts in or forgetting to swap in a new pair according to schedule may be the unintended result of a harried lifestyle, but it could also lead to long-term eye damage, a new CDC study reports. Researchers looked at 1,075 cases of eye infections reported to an...

Here&#39;s How an Ancient Iceman Kept Warm
Here's How an
Ancient Iceman
Kept Warm
STUDY SAYS
Aug 19, 2016 10:48 AM CDT

Here's How an Ancient Iceman Kept Warm

Clothing made from bear, sheep, goat, deer, cattle—you name it, Oetzi wore it

(Newser) - Scientists say Oetzi the Iceman , whose mummified body has been studied extensively since it was discovered on a glacier near the Italian-Austrian border in 1991, wore clothes made of brown bear pelt and roe deer when he died in the Alps 5,300 years ago. Researchers in Italy used genetic...

In Hot Weather, Song Can Change an Unborn Finch
In Hot Weather,
Song Can Change
an Unborn Finch
STUDY SAYS
Aug 19, 2016 10:06 AM CDT

In Hot Weather, Song Can Change an Unborn Finch

Chicks who hear it grow smaller, choose warmer nests: study

(Newser) - Several types of birds sing to unhatched eggs so their young will recognize their voices once they've hatched—but what the zebra finch does is something else entirely. In a study called "paradigm-shifting" by one of its authors, researchers at Australia's Deakin University say the birds sing...

That Techno Beat May Be Hiding a Secret Message

Cybersecurity researcher pulls it off via Ibiza dance music

(Newser) - There is a long and melodious history of hiding secret messages in song—so-called musical steganography—that dates back at least 500 years. But now a cybersecurity expert from Poland has revealed a new way to send messages that are otherwise undetectable through song: tiny adjustments in tempo. To test...

Radar Found a 'Superhenge' of Stones. Then the Digging Began

Actual excavation revealed holes once filled with timber

(Newser) - Remember the huge stone monument archaeologists found buried two miles from Stonehenge in the UK last year? Well it turns out that the so-called "Superhenge" that radar suggested was made of 100 or so large stones was actually stoneless. "The response from the radar was so good that...

2nd-Oldest Shipwreck Found in Great Lakes

The Washington went down in 1803

(Newser) - The second-oldest confirmed shipwreck in the Great Lakes, an American-built, Canadian-owned sloop that sank in Lake Ontario more than 200 years ago, has been found, a team of underwater explorers says. The three-member Western New York-based team said it discovered the shipwreck this summer in deep water off Oswego, in...

Cute Purple Critter on Ocean Floor Charms Scientists

Exploration vessel Nautilus encountered the squid off the coast California

(Newser) - It looks for all the world "like some little kid dropped their toy," as one scientist jokes. But, no, that adorable purple creature with giant, googly eyes spotted on the bottom of the ocean is, in fact, a stubby squid called Rossia pacifica. Researchers in the exploration vessel...

New Dolphin Species Hid in Museum for 55 Years

Meet Arktocara yakataga

(Newser) - The discoverers of a brand new dolphin species didn't even have to leave the office to make their find, UPI reports. Smithsonian curator Nicholas Pyenson and researcher Alexandra Boersma were presumably going about their business when—in Boersma's words—"this beautiful little skull from Alaska" jumped out...

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