discoveries

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

Stories 181 - 200 | << Prev   Next >>

As Far as Discoveries Go, It&#39;s Quite Literally Huge
The Rumors About
the Snake Were True
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 25, 2024 10:40 AM CST

The Rumors About the Snake Were True

A new species of giant anaconda is identified

(Newser) - Bryan Fry calls the discovery "the highlight of my career"—and it's quite literally a big one. The University of Queensland professor and his team managed to document a new species of giant anaconda in the Amazon, per a press release . As Fry explains, his team got...

Math Historian Saw Decimals in 1440s Treatise and Freaked Out

Glen Van Brummelen uncovers earliest known use of decimal to indicate base-10 number system

(Newser) - How old is the decimal? It's a question you've probably never pondered but one that has fascinated certain historians. Fascinated isn't overstating it. When Glen Van Brummelen, a historian of mathematics at Canada's Trinity Western University, spotted a decimal used to indicate tenths of a number...

How a Cushion of Fat Helps Whales Sing

Researchers may have figured out how baleen whales vocalize

(Newser) - Whales sing loud enough that their songs travel through the ocean, but knowing the mechanics behind that has been a mystery. Scientists now think they have an idea, and it's something not seen in other animals: a specialized voice box. Experts say the discovery, while based on a study...

ADHD May Have Been Evolutionary Advantage
ADHD May Have Been
Evolutionary Advantage
NEW STUDY
Feb 22, 2024 12:33 PM CST

ADHD May Have Been Evolutionary Advantage

Study involving online berry-picking suggests ADHD is 'adaptive specialization for foraging'

(Newser) - Traits associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can include difficulty concentrating, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. Though such traits are often viewed negatively, it really depends on the environment. Research has backed the "evolutionary mismatch" theory that argues traits of neurodivergence, though perhaps disadvantageous in our hyperstimulated modern world, provided an evolutionary...

This Is the Fastest-Growing Black Hole Ever Discovered

'This quasar is the most violent place that we know in the universe,' says lead scientist

(Newser) - Astronomers have discovered what may be the brightest object in the universe, a quasar with a black hole at its heart growing so fast that it swallows the equivalent of a sun a day. As the AP reports, the record-breaking quasar shines 500 trillion times brighter than our sun. The...

&#39;Aloof&#39; Big Cats Are Partial to Keepers&#39; Voices
Big Cats Are
Like Pet Cats
in One Big Way
in case you missed it
Feb 18, 2024 10:15 AM CST

Big Cats Are Like Pet Cats in One Big Way

Familiar human voices draw longer, more intense responses than unfamiliar ones, researchers show

(Newser) - Domestic cats can tell their owner's voice apart from other humans, and apparently their larger cousins have that same capability, according to new research out of Michigan's Oakland University. In the study published Thursday in the PeerJ—Life and Environment journal, scientists wanted to see if tigers, cheetahs,...

Viagra Study Provides &#39;Food for Thought&#39;
Viagra Study
Provides 'Food
for Thought'
in case you missed it
Feb 18, 2024 7:00 AM CST

Viagra Study Provides 'Food for Thought'

Researchers find correlation between Viagra prescriptions, lowered Alzheimer's risk

(Newser) - It's an intriguing study that provides "food for thought," as its lead author puts it. Researchers found men who'd been prescribed Viagra and similar PDE5 inhibitor drugs were 18% less likely to develop Alzheimer's over a five-year period than those who hadn't been prescribed...

It Could Be Europe&#39;s &#39;Oldest Man-Made Megastructure&#39;
Beneath the Sea, an Ancient
'Man-Made Megastructure'
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 17, 2024 12:10 PM CST

Beneath the Sea, an Ancient 'Man-Made Megastructure'

Stone Age wall found in sea off Germany thought to have been used to hunt reindeer

(Newser) - More than 10,000 years ago, humans constructed a long, low wall, using rocks weighing a combined 150 tons. Discovered by accident in 2021, the Blinkerwall—submerged 70 feet deep in the Baltic Sea, 6 miles off the coast of Rerik, Germany—is now a candidate for the oldest known...

Scientists Followed 20 Polar Bears. Their Findings Are Grim

The creatures are starving as climate change causes ice melt and they can't access main prey

(Newser) - Imagine being a nursing mom who can't produce milk because you're starving, or trying to swim more than 100 miles after not eating for days. Those are just a couple of the scenarios Time notes are now plaguing polar bears in the Arctic as sea ice continues to...

Researchers Find Telltale Alzheimer's Clues in Our Blood

Study identifies 4 biological markers, raising hope that a blood test for dementia is nearer

(Newser) - It's looking more and more likely that a blood test to predict Alzheimer's years before symptoms appear will be available in the not-too-distant future. In the latest development, researchers say they identified biological markers in stored blood samples that reliably forecast various forms of dementia nearly 15 years...

Insects Gather at Lights Because They&#39;re Confused
Insects Gather at Lights
Because They're Confused
NEW STUDY
Feb 4, 2024 2:15 PM CST

Insects Gather at Lights Because They're Confused

Artificial light at night can scramble insects' navigation systems, researcher says

(Newser) - Moths and other flying insects end up fluttering around artificial lights at night not because they find the light itself appealing, but because the light messes with their navigation systems, researchers say. Sam Fabian, co-author of a study published in the journal Nature Communications , says moths and other insects appear...

Finding May Explain Why Women Get Lupus More Often

Females' extra X chromosome appears to be a factor in autoimmune disorders

(Newser) - Women get autoimmune disorders such as lupus far more often than men, and a new study suggests the best explanation to date for why that is. It's all about the extra X chromosome that women carry, reports STAT News . More specifically, the study in the journal Cell focuses on...

Dino &#39;From Hell&#39; Suggests There Was No Decline
Dino 'From Hell' Suggests
There Was No Decline
NEW STUDY
Feb 1, 2024 12:50 PM CST

Dino 'From Hell' Suggests There Was No Decline

New caenagnathid species, and a possible second, suggest this dino family was doing fine

(Newser) - Paleontologists have been debating whether the asteroid that killed non-avian dinosaurs took out a varied group of thriving reptiles or one already in decline . Now, researchers say they've discovered a new dinosaur species whose very existence disputes the latter argument. The argument is largely based on apparent declines in...

Seaweed Could Help Us Survive Nuclear War
Seaweed Could
Save Us After Nuclear War
new study
Jan 31, 2024 2:40 PM CST

Seaweed Could Save Us After Nuclear War

Study finds it could help feed humanity ... if we can make it at least 9 months

(Newser) - Should our planet be ravaged by nuclear war, those who survive may not starve to death, or so suggests a new study. Yes, the million tons of radioactive dust and smoke and soot that result from the fires caused by the bombs will be sent into Earth's atmosphere, sharply...

Amelia Earhart's Plane? Experts Say Not So Fast

87-year-old debate continues over where the lost aviator may have ended up

(Newser) - Tony Romeo, chief executive of Deep Sea Vision, believes he's found Amelia Earhart's airplane during a search of 5,200 square miles of ocean floor. Other experts who've viewed the sonar image showing what Romeo is certain is a Lockheed 10-E Electra with two distinctive fin stabilizers...

For These 5, Alzheimer&#39;s Was Medically Acquired
Medical Miscue May Have
Given Patients Alzheimer's
NEW STUDY
Jan 30, 2024 11:49 AM CST

Medical Miscue May Have Given Patients Alzheimer's

Study suggests disease was triggered by human growth hormone shots derived from cadavers

(Newser) - Doctors once sought to make very short children taller by injecting them with growth hormone taken from the brains of dead people. The procedure was banned 40 years ago—and cadaver-derived pituitary growth hormone (c-hGH) replaced with a synthetic version—when scientists discovered patients had also received bits of protein...

For These Alzheimer&#39;s Patients, the Eyes Offer a Clue
For These Alzheimer's Patients,
the Eyes Offer a Clue
in case you missed it
Jan 28, 2024 7:00 AM CST

For These Alzheimer's Patients, the Eyes Offer a Clue

Vision issues may be early sign of posterior cortical atrophy, a rare form of the disease

(Newser) - Alzheimer's patients typically begin to show signs they have the disease via memory issues, but for some patients, an early warning sign arrives another way. Per the Washington Post , there's a rare variant of the condition, called posterior cortical atrophy , in which patients start having vision problems early...

Scientists Find an Ancient Syphilis Relative in Brazil

Research suggests the bacterium has been around for millennia

(Newser) - People who lived with painful mouth and skin sores on the south coast of Brazil some 2,000 years ago carried the oldest known evidence of a syphilis relative. Treponema pallidum, the bacterium that causes syphilis, is "one of the least well understood common bacterial infections," one expert...

In States With Abortion Bans, This Number Stands Out

There were 520K rapes in 14 states, resulting in 64K pregnancies

(Newser) - In September 2021, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott insisted that his state's strict six-week abortion ban was adequate time for women to obtain an abortion, and that he would "eliminate all rapists" in his state, implying that pregnancies from rape in Texas would eventually no longer be an issue....

Poop Seen From Space Leads to Emperor Penguin Discovery

4 colonies are newly identified

(Newser) - Scientists have spotted previously unknown colonies of emperor penguins in Antarctica, all thanks to poop that could be seen from space. As NBC News reports, Peter Fretwell with the British Antarctic Survey used satellite imagery to spot "tell-tale patches" of penguin guano against the white snow. It's encouraging...

Stories 181 - 200 | << Prev   Next >>