discoveries

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

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2 Common Surgeries May Make Women More Fertile

Tonsillectomy, appendectomy linked to increased chance of pregnancy in study

(Newser) - Having their tonsils or appendix removed might result in an unexpected benefit for young women who hope to become pregnant someday: New research suggests they might be more fertile as a result. A 15-year study of half a million British women finds that a woman who has undergone a tonsillectomy...

Millennials Are the &#39;Hookup Generation&#39;? Not Even Close
Millennials Are the 'Hookup Generation'? Not Quite
NEW STUDY
Aug 3, 2016 10:17 AM CDT

Millennials Are the 'Hookup Generation'? Not Quite

They have less sex, few partners than their parents: study

(Newser) - Think young people are knocking boots left and right? You're actually way off. In fact, millennials' sex lives are most similar to those about 75 years ago, a new study finds. In a survey of 26,000 adults from 1989 to 2014, people born in the 1980s and '...

Alaska's Woolly Mammoths Likely Died of Thirst

Rising seas made fresh water scarce on St. Paul Island 5,600 years ago

(Newser) - Some of the world's last remaining woolly mammoths literally died of thirst, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . The ancient animals were still living on a small island off the coast of Alaska until about 5,600 years ago—or...

Researchers Get to the Bottom of Female Orgasm

They have a new theory that focuses on the way ovulation has evolved

(Newser) - The role of the female orgasm has been a head-scratcher for centuries. Case-in-point: Aristotle himself noted that the fact that human females don't need it to conceive clouded the quest for explanation. The statistics that show it's an "uncommon" occurrence during heterosexual intercourse and the lack of...

First Mass Extinction Likely Caused by 'Utterly Weird' Animals

Animals shaped like 'Frisbees and lumpy mattresses' may have killed early Ediacarans

(Newser) - New fossil evidence dug up in Namibia lends credence to the theory that we should blame "ecosystem engineers" for the world's first mass extinction, and that's not a euphemism for man, asteroids, or aliens. Instead, per a Vanderbilt University study published in the October issue of the...

Humpbacks Save Other Animals From Orcas

The 'why' part is unclear

(Newser) - Whale researchers say they've collected enough evidence to make a remarkable assertion: Humpback whales deliberately save other creatures from killer whales. The scientists collected 115 accounts between 1951 and 2012, they write in Marine Mammal Science . Maine ecologist Robert Pitman got the idea for the survey after seeing an...

Pro Tip for Rio Travelers: 'Don't Put Your Head Underwater'

AP study finds waters in Olympic city are still dangerously contaminated

(Newser) - Just days ahead of the Olympic Games, Rio waterways are as filthy as ever, contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria, according to a 16-month-long study commissioned by the AP . Not only are some 1,400 athletes at risk of getting violently ill in water competitions,...

A Blue Wonder: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a rare new whale species

(Newser) - A new "blue hole" and a long royal mystery solved are among the most intriguing discoveries of the week:
  • There's a New Whale Species, and It's a Big One : When a 24-foot whale carcass washed up on the beach of a remote Alaskan island, a researcher was
...

This Is the Oldest Evidence of Cancer in Humans
This Is the Oldest Evidence
of Cancer in Humans
NEW STUDY
Jul 29, 2016 11:57 AM CDT

This Is the Oldest Evidence of Cancer in Humans

It comes from 1.7M-year-old foot bone

(Newser) - The oldest evidence of cancer in human relatives has long been a 120,000-year-old Neanderthal. A single foot bone changes that, by a lot. Belonging to an early hominin who lived 1.7 million years ago in South Africa, it holds the oldest example of a malignant tumor in a...

'Purple Blob' on Ocean Floor Baffles Scientists

It could be a new species of sea slug

(Newser) - Scientists exploring the seafloor around California's Channel Islands have made a strange discovery. They just aren't exactly sure what it is. While studying deep-sea coral via a remotely operated vehicle, scientists on the research vessel E/V Nautilus noticed a "dark purple blob" with a pink center on...

Traveling in Deep Space Is Bad for Your Heart

Apollo astronauts are much more likely to die of cardiovascular disease

(Newser) - Planning a trip to the moon? You might want to think about heart health first. According to a study published in Scientific Reports , travel in deep space dramatically raises the risk of cardiovascular disease. Florida State University researchers looked at America's Apollo astronauts, who are the only people ever...

Even Some Activity Keeps Death at Bay for Couch Potatoes

And one hour wipes out death risk from 8 hours of sitting, scientists say

(Newser) - If you think squeezing an hour of exercise in per day can't come close to making up for the other 23 hours when you're relatively sedentary—and so you don't bother at all—rethink that strategy. A study by Cambridge University and the Norwegian School of Sports...

Study: Being Out of Shape Nearly as Deadly as Smoking

And it's more dangerous than high cholesterol and blood pressure

(Newser) - Being physically unfit is more damaging to living a long life than everything except smoking, according to a study published Wednesday in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology . And as the Huffington Post puts it: "We all know how evil smoking is." Researchers measured the maximum oxygen intake...

Wine and Stinky Shipwreck Cheese, Anyone?

Not really sure of best pairing for gooey 340-year-old 'dairy product' from Swedish warship

(Newser) - For 340 years, the Swedish ship Kronan has languished at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, the 126-gun warship's permanent resting place after it was sunk right before a 1676 skirmish with Denmark and the Netherlands, Atlas Obscura reports. It was found in 1980, and since then it's...

North America Only Has One Wolf Species Left
North America Only Has
One Wolf Species Left
NEW STUDY
Jul 28, 2016 7:41 AM CDT

North America Only Has One Wolf Species Left

It's the gray wolf; all others are hybrids: study

(Newser) - The US government recognizes three wolf species in North America: the red wolf, eastern wolf, and gray wolf. Two, it turns out, aren't true wolf at all. In a new genetic study , scientists at UCLA say the gray wolf is the last wolf species on the continent and all...

Cure for Deadly 'Superbug' May be Hiding in Our Noses

'Totally unexpected'

(Newser) - A team of German bacteriologists says our noses may contain more than boogers; there might also be a cure for the "hospital superbug" MRSA hiding up there, the Guardian reports. According to the Los Angeles Times , MRSA kills about 11,000 US patients every year and sickens another 80,...

Severe Birth Defects Don&#39;t Mean Death Sentence
Severe Birth Defects Don't Mean Death Sentence
NEW STUDY
Jul 27, 2016 11:21 AM CDT

Severe Birth Defects Don't Mean Death Sentence

Canadian study suggests birth defects aren't as lethal as doctors previously advised

(Newser) - Parents of newborns with rare genetic conditions used to hear that severe birth defects were "incompatible with life." Support groups and social media showing the exceptions have changed the landscape—and so has mounting research suggesting not all such babies will die, the AP reports. The latest study...

Archaeologists Make Surprise Find Under Mayan Temple

They find water tunnels, maybe in hope of helping ruler reach the underworld

(Newser) - When researchers grew concerned about underground anomalies detected near the Mayan ruins of Palenque in Mexico, they began a dig to figure out whether the pyramid was in danger of collapse. This week, researchers announced that what they found was no anomaly but rather a small canal system, reports the...

There's a New Whale Species, and It's a Big One

24-foot 'raven' beaked whale found in Alaskan waters led to discovery of new species

(Newser) - When a 24-foot whale carcass washed up on the beach of a remote Alaskan island in 2014, a researcher was pretty sure it was a dark version of a Baird's beaked whale, National Geographic reports. But per a new study published in Marine Mammal Science , it was an entirely...

Planet's Deepest 'Blue Hole' Has Been Found

Scientists announce discovery in South China Sea

(Newser) - "Blue holes" are mystifying to look at, the large, deep pits appearing a shade of blue that's just as deep and in stark contrast to the shallow waters around them. And what we've long considered the planet's deepest—the 663-foot Dean's Blue Hole in the...

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