discoveries

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

Stories 521 - 540 | << Prev   Next >>

Theory: Maya Rulers' Ashes Used to Make Pelota Balls

Archaeologist believes it happened in at least 3 cases

(Newser) - Pelota is one of the oldest known team sports, played centuries ago by the Maya—in some cases, with a ball that may have been partly made from the ashes of their dead rulers. The BBC reports on archaeologist Juan Yadeun Angulo's theory, which was born from a pair...

King Bluetooth Lies at Center of an Archaeological Dispute

Archaeologist and researcher say he was buried in Poland, but they don't agree on where

(Newser) - More than 1,000 years after his death in what's now Poland, a European king whose nickname lives on through wireless technology is at the center of an archaeological dispute. Chronicles from the Middle Ages say King Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson of Denmark acquired his nickname courtesy of a...

What&#39;s an Arctic Shark Doing in the Caribbean?
Shark Researchers Make
Odd Find Off Belize
in case you missed it
Jul 30, 2022 1:10 PM CDT

Shark Researchers Make Odd Find Off Belize

Little is known about Greenland sharks, but nobody expected to find one in the Caribbean

(Newser) - With an estimated lifespan of up to 500 years, Greenland sharks are considered the longest-living vertebrates on Earth. They are native to frigid Arctic waters, where they like to feed on polar bear carcasses. But at least one has also ventured to the western Caribbean, and it surprised a boatload...

Pair of COVID Studies Point a Finger at Wuhan Market
Pair of COVID Studies
Land on Same Culprit
new research
Jul 27, 2022 9:20 AM CDT

Pair of COVID Studies Land on Same Culprit

One mapped locations of infections, the second analyzed genomic diversity of viruses

(Newser) - Two peer-reviewed studies published Tuesday in Science arrive at the same conclusion: Wuhan's Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market was where the COVID pandemic originated. The Los Angeles Times explains that after the lab-leak theory was dismissed last year, scientists pointed out there wasn't a plethora of published data on...

Seabed Gives Up Coin Minted 1.8K Years Ago

It's been traced back to Egypt under the rule of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius

(Newser) - Israel's Antiquities Authority said Monday it has discovered a rare 1,850-year-old bronze zodiac coin during an underwater survey off the coastal city of Haifa, reports the AP . The coin bears the image of the zodiac sign Cancer behind a depiction of the moon goddess Luna. Experts say the...

Parents Everywhere Talk to Babies the Same


Parents
Everywhere
Talk to Babies
the Same
new study
Jul 25, 2022 8:59 AM CDT

Parents Everywhere Talk to Babies the Same

Major new study documents sing-songy 'parentese'

(Newser) - Researchers have managed to find something that societies of all kinds—from hunter-gatherer groups in the Amazon to affluent cities in the West—have in common. We talk and sing to babies in a similar way, according to what is being described as a landmark study in Nature Human Behaviour ...

Study: McCandless May Have Been a Victim of Bad Timing

Researchers: River he tried, failed to cross may have been passable a day before, after

(Newser) - A study on the hydrology of Alaska's Teklanika River in the summer of 1992 might seem like a subject that would have limited appeal—were it not for the young man who tried and failed to cross it. That would be Christopher McCandless, whose death that year in the...

A Diss Can Feel Like an Actual Slap in the Face


Insults Can
Feel Just Like
'Mini Slaps'
NEW STUDY
Jul 19, 2022 10:50 AM CDT

Insults Can Feel Just Like 'Mini Slaps'

Research finds that our brains may be more sensitive to negative words than we realize

(Newser) - If you've ever felt the sting of an insult—as in it almost felt like a literal sting, as if you'd been physically hurt—you're not alone. Gadgets 360 reports on a new study out of the Netherlands' Utrecht University that shows verbal put-downs can feel "...

Study of Orphaned Elephants Surprises Researchers
Study of Orphaned Elephants
Surprises Researchers
new study
Jul 18, 2022 10:30 AM CDT

Study of Orphaned Elephants Surprises Researchers

If they stay with a pack, they don't seem to be stressed out more than non-orphaned peers

(Newser) - Researchers who set out to measure the stress levels of orphaned elephants expected to see sky-high levels because of the particularly strong bond evident between mother elephants and their offspring. "Until age 8 or 9, elephants are rarely more than 10 meters from their mother," Jenna Parker of...

Cheers if You're Over 40. Not So Fast if You're Younger

New analysis finds there's no benefit and only increased health risks for young adults who drink

(Newser) - First scientists told us that young adults shouldn't drink alone ; now they're saying they shouldn't drink at all. At least, that's the conclusion of new research out of Seattle's University of Washington, which is part of the ongoing "Global Burden of Diseases" study carried...

Research Refutes Common Theory on Woodpeckers
Research Refutes Common
Theory on Woodpeckers
new study
Jul 15, 2022 9:44 AM CDT

Research Refutes Common Theory on Woodpeckers

Birds don't have a natural 'shock absorber' to protect their brains

(Newser) - Why don't woodpeckers knock themselves loopy when bashing their head against a tree? For years, the prevailing wisdom has been that they have some kind of natural shock absorber in their skulls to protect their brains, explains NPR . But a new study in Current Biology refutes the idea. By...

At Famous Battle Site, an 'Incredibly Rare' Find

Complete skeleton of likely soldier found alongside horse bones near site of Waterloo

(Newser) - Finding human remains at the site of a famous battle isn't usually very surprising. But it is in the case of the Battle of Waterloo, which ended Napoleon's rule as emperor of France. Though up to 20,000 men died in the battle in modern-day Belgium on June...

Young People Who Drink Solo, Take Heed of This Study

Study finds young solitary drinkers at increased risk for alcoholism in mid-30s

(Newser) - The manner in which you drink alcohol as a young person might be more important than how much you drink in determining future alcoholism risk, according to new research that warns against drinking alone in early life, especially if you're a young female. Researchers analyzed data from 4,500...

Feeling 'Hangry'? Scientists Say You're Not Imagining It

New research ties hunger to negative emotional states like irritability, anger, lower pleasure

(Newser) - That growing rage you feel the later you put off lunch hour—what has become colloquially known as being "hangry"—likely isn't just in your head. Austrian and Malaysian researchers have found that a lack of sustenance actually does seem to make people cranky, and it all...

Largest Water Lily Species Hid in Plain Sight for 2 Centuries
Largest Water Lily
Was Hiding in Plain Sight
NEW STUDY
Jul 6, 2022 7:59 AM CDT

Largest Water Lily Was Hiding in Plain Sight

Study describes the massive Victoria boliviana, kept at a botanical garden in London since 1845

(Newser) - A royal botanical garden is just the place you'd expect to find the world's largest species of water lily. But until recently, officials at London's Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, were unaware that the species previously unknown to science, though well known to the indigenous peoples of the...

This Could Change Theory on the Origin of Humankind

Australopithecus africanus fossils in South Africa are a million years older than we thought

(Newser) - The earliest species of human is thought to have evolved from East Africa based on fossil findings, including that of the famous Lucy, an Australopithecus afarensis who lived in what is now Ethiopia some 3.2 million years ago. But that theory might now be shifting thanks to new findings...

One Weird Factor in Friendships: Body Odor
One Weird Factor in
Friendships: Body Odor
new study
Jun 27, 2022 9:35 AM CDT

One Weird Factor in Friendships: Body Odor

Study suggests we gravitate to people who smell like us

(Newser) - Qualities you might seek in a friend: loyalty, honesty, and ... a similar body odor to your own? A new study suggests the latter is a factor, even if we're not aware of it, reports the New York Times . When we meet new people, we sometimes feel an “immediate...

Divers Find Long-Lost Head of Hercules
Divers Make
Herculean Find
at Antikythera
Wreck
in case you missed it
Jun 26, 2022 7:35 AM CDT

Divers Make Herculean Find at Antikythera Wreck

Once giant boulders were removed, head of Hercules statue found in 1900 emerged

(Newser) - Marine archaeologists have better access to the world's richest ancient shipwreck after boulders were lifted from the Roman-era Antikythera wreck that yielded the famous Antikythera Mechanism calculator, revealing new treasures within. In addition to human teeth, the lead weight for an anchor, iron nails, and the base of a...

Miner's Surprise Find: 'She's Perfect and She's Beautiful'

Mummified baby woolly mammoth found in Canada is first such discovery in North America

(Newser) - He might have hoped to strike a rich vein of gold in Canada's Yukon. Instead, a miner there discovered something that has paleontologists' jaws dropping: the mummified remains of a baby woolly mammoth. It's the first time a fully preserved specimen has been discovered in North America and...

Texas Explorer Finds the Deepest Shipwreck Ever

USS Samuel B. Roberts went down in WWII fighting Japanese warships in Philippine Sea

(Newser) - In its determined last stand in October 1944, the Sammy B took on the Japanese during a World War II battle that eventually sent it down to the ocean floor. The US Navy destroyer (official name: the USS Samuel B. Roberts) remained lost to humankind for nearly 80 more years—...

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