discoveries

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

Stories 1081 - 1100 | << Prev   Next >>

It&#39;s True: The Closest Planet to Every Planet Is ... Mercury
It Turns Out Venus Is
Not Our Closest Neighbor
new study
Mar 15, 2019 9:07 AM CDT

It Turns Out Venus Is Not Our Closest Neighbor

On average, that is

(Newser) - File this one away for bar trivia night: The planet closest to Earth is not Venus. So say researchers in a paper in Physics Today touting the new mathematical method they devised that spit out the true nearest neighbor when distance is averaged over time: Mercury. And here's the...

Study Highlights Tragic Risks of Smoking While Pregnant

Just one cigarette per day while pregnant doubles baby's risk of unexpected death

(Newser) - A new study finds dire statistics for women who smoke while pregnant: Even one cigarette a day doubles your baby's risk of sudden unexpected infant death. SUID is defined as any death of an infant under 1 year of age from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), accidental suffocation or...

After Locals Told of the Cave, It Was Sealed&mdash;Until Now
After Locals Told of the Cave,
It Was Sealed—Until Now
in case you missed it
Mar 10, 2019 12:15 PM CDT

After Locals Told of the Cave, It Was Sealed—Until Now

Some 200 Mayan artifacts found below Chichen Itza

(Newser) - This "extraordinary" story could have been published 50 years ago. That's when locals at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza told an archaeologist about a cave there, but he had its entrance sealed, possibly to safeguard what was inside. The AP reports his brief report on it languished...

Theory Pushed in Largest Mass Sacrifice of Children

The slaughter may have been to appease the gods after a deluge

(Newser) - Archaeologists last year described it as the largest known mass child sacrifice anywhere in the world: 140 children and 200 llamas slaughtered around AD 1450 on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the Chimu state—what is now northern Peru. At the time, archaeologists had a theory about why...

How to Save Earth From Asteroid? New Study Adds a Wrinkle

Striking and destroying it would take more energy than thought

(Newser) - If an asteroid is barreling toward Earth, there's only one solution: Strike and destroy it, right? A new Johns Hopkins University study has found that, contrary to previous thought, that might not be so easy. The research plays off of a more encouraging study from the early 2000s, in...

With New Vaccine Study, 'a Truth Has Emerged' on Autism

Namely, as other studies have noted, that MMR vaccine isn't linked to the developmental disorder

(Newser) - The Centers for Disease Control and many others have long noted there's no proven link between vaccines and autism, and now the agency has yet another study to back those claims. CNN reports that the research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal looked to see if there...

In a Surprise, Giant Sunfish Washes Ashore in California

'Hoodwinker' species wasn't thought to be around there

(Newser) - A big sea creature that washed ashore in Southern California has been identified as a hoodwinker sunfish, a recently identified rare species thought to live only in the Southern Hemisphere. The University of California, Santa Barbara, says the fish was spotted last week at Sands Beach in the university's...

Parents' Sleep May Suffer for 6 Years After Baby Arrives

If you just welcomed a little one, you can look forward to the year 2025

(Newser) - Being able to say, "The baby is finally sleeping through the night" may offer a mental boost, but that doesn't mean you're necessarily going to be getting a lot more shut-eye anytime soon. In fact, don't count on it for at least six years, the Telegraph ...

Red Meat Allergy From Ticks Easier to Get Than Thought

Study causes scientists to revise their theory

(Newser) - It's perhaps the weirdest ailment related to ticks—one bite can make people allergic to red meat . Now scientists have done some more research, only to conclude that the risk of getting this allergy from the lone star tick may be higher than they originally thought. It all has...

This Might Be the Secret to Great Whites&#39; Success
This Might Be Great White
Sharks' Biggest Advantage
in case you missed it
Feb 23, 2019 7:30 AM CST

This Might Be Great White Sharks' Biggest Advantage

Decoded genome sheds light on how they heal their own wounds, stay healthy

(Newser) - Scientists for the first time have decoded the genome of the great white shark, and the results show that humans have much to learn from the long-lived creatures. The sharks' genes seem especially suited to healing their own wounds and warding off illness, reports Wired . "These include DNA sequences...

Mighty T. Rex Had a Pipsqueak Predecessor
Mighty T. Rex Had
a Pipsqueak Predecessor
new study
Feb 21, 2019 10:44 AM CST

Mighty T. Rex Had a Pipsqueak Predecessor

Moros intrepidus stood 3 to 4 feet tall

(Newser) - Tyrannosaurus rex may have been the fiercest dinosaur on the planet just before the creatures went extinct, but even T-rex had humble beginnings. A new fossil found in Utah shows that an earlier iteration of the behemoth stood just 3 feet to 4 feet tall and weighed about 170 pounds....

Spot Where Caesar Was Murdered to Open to Public

In a couple years' time it'll see visitors other than cats

(Newser) - In 2012, researchers pinpointed the location where Julius Caesar was murdered—but the spot was accessible only to a colony of cats. That'll change come late 2021 thanks to the high-end jeweler Bulgari, which is funding the restoration of the Rome site known as Largo Argentina. The AP reports...

WWII Aircraft Carrier Found After 77 Years

USS Hornet took part in Battle of Midway

(Newser) - The USS Hornet aircraft carrier had an extremely busy year and six days in service, taking part in key World War II events in the Pacific including the Battle of Midway and the Doolittle Raid before being sunk by Japanese forces in the Battle of Santa Cruz Island on Oct....

Women&#39;s Brains May Have Unique Edge Over Men&#39;s
In One Unique Way, Women's
Brains Have Edge Over Men's
in case you missed it
Feb 9, 2019 7:00 AM CST

In One Unique Way, Women's Brains Have Edge Over Men's

Study suggests they're a few years 'younger' than male brains, in terms of metabolism

(Newser) - Women's brains seem to age better than men's, at least by one key measure. That's one of the main takeaways of a new study out of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers found that if you compared a male and female brain...

A Mosquito Study Started as 'a Lark.' Then It Worked

Scientists discover that our diet drugs work on the insects, keep them from feeding

(Newser) - Human diet pills could one day stop mosquitoes from feasting on you in the night. Scientists have given drugs used on people to trick blood-thirsty mosquitoes into thinking they've already had their fill of blood. The researchers hope the technique will eventually be used to control the spread of...

One of the World's Newest Islands Has a Mystery

NASA visitors 'baffled' by mud on land mass near Tonga

(Newser) - An underwater volcano burped up a land mass near Tonga about four years ago, and NASA researchers who visited the new island for the first time got a surprise. The South Pacific island informally called Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai has "very sticky" clay mud, says scientist Dan Slayback in...

CDC: Kids Are Using Too Much Toothpaste
CDC: Kids
Are Using
Too Much
Toothpaste
NEW STUDY
Feb 4, 2019 9:10 AM CST

CDC: Kids Are Using Too Much Toothpaste

Fluoride in toothpaste is causing white streaks from dental fluorosis

(Newser) - If you're the parent of young kids, think about how big a grain of rice is, or a pea, before you help them brush their teeth. That's because that's how big the drop of toothpaste on their toothbrush should be, depending on their age—kids up to...

&#39;Sinkhole&#39; Turns Out to Be Secret Tunnel to Bank
They Thought
It Was a Sinkhole. 
Then They Saw
the Orange Cord
in case you missed it
Feb 3, 2019 12:40 PM CST

They Thought It Was a Sinkhole. Then They Saw the Orange Cord

FBI investigating after public works employees find secret tunnel leading to Florida bank

(Newser) - It started out as public works employees checking out a potential sinkhole or pothole; it ended up with the FBI trying to solve what the Sun Sentinel is now calling a "bank caper." What the workers spotted in the hole in Pembroke Pines, Fla., on Tuesday that raised...

Hidden in Rock Chambers, Egypt's First Big Find of 2019

40 mummies, including 10 that were children, unearthed at Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in Minya

(Newser) - Egypt says it just made what Ahram Online calls its "first antiquities discovery of 2019," and it's a big one: a number of ancient burial chambers containing some 40 mummies at the Tuna El-Gebel necropolis in the desert province of Minya, south of Cairo, the AP reports....

Warmer Ocean Spells Doom for Starfish
Scientists Find Culprit
in Starfish Devastation
new study
Feb 1, 2019 10:05 AM CST

Scientists Find Culprit in Starfish Devastation

Warmer ocean helps deadly pathogen flourish, study suggests

(Newser) - "This thing was as common as a robin," Cornell's Drew Harvell tells the Atlantic of the sunflower sea star. No more. The creature that once thrived off the West Coast was decimated along with other starfish species by a disease that surfaced with a vengeance around 2013....

Stories 1081 - 1100 | << Prev   Next >>