discoveries

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

Stories 1181 - 1200 | << Prev   Next >>

Was Napoleon Taken Down by a Volcano? Perhaps
Did a Volcano Play a Role in
Napoleon's Downfall? Maybe
in case you missed it
Aug 25, 2018 8:53 AM CDT

Did a Volcano Play a Role in Napoleon's Downfall? Maybe

New study suggests eruption played a role in poor weather conditions during battle

(Newser) - Here's an unexpected theory: that Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in June 1815 was partly caused by the eruption of an volcano in Indonesia. It's a suggestion tacked onto the end of a study by Dr. Matthew Genge of the Imperial College London published Wednesday in Geology . Titled...

On the Surface of the Moon: Ice, Ice, Baby
Good News
for Future
Lunar Colonists
NEW STUDY
Aug 22, 2018 7:50 AM CDT

Good News for Future Lunar Colonists

Astronomers find 'definitive evidence' of ice on moon's surface

(Newser) - Future lunar colonists shouldn't have too much trouble finding water: In a first, astronomers have discovered ice—specifically patches of frost—on the moon's north and south poles, in areas permanently shaded from the sun. Found by observing how molecules absorb infrared light, the ice is particularly concentrated...

Scientists Make Spaghetti Do What It Rarely Does
Scientists Make Spaghetti
Do What It Rarely Does
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 19, 2018 6:57 AM CDT

Scientists Make Spaghetti Do What It Rarely Does

Snap neatly in two

(Newser) - Scientists at MIT have just completed an excellent pasta parlor trick: They figured out how to snap pieces of spaghetti in two. The uninitiated can test the original problem for themselves: Go to the kitchen, pull out a piece of dry spaghetti, and try to break it into two pieces....

What We Assumed About Easter Island May Be Wrong
What We Assumed About
Easter Island May Be Wrong
in case you missed it
Aug 18, 2018 10:00 AM CDT

What We Assumed About Easter Island May Be Wrong

New study looked at the source of the tools used to carve the heads

(Newser) - The tale of the demise of Easter Island's people may have to be rewritten. The story has long held that infighting as resources ran out was one of the main drivers of the collapse, but a new study published in the Journal of Pacific Archaeology suggests a different scenario....

In an Ancient Jar, World's Oldest Cheese Is Found

Remnants of the stuff remain after 3,200 years

(Newser) - For thousands of years beneath Egypt's desert sands, a solidified whitish substance sat in a broken jar. Scientists now say it's "probably the most ancient archaeological solid residue of cheese ever found," per the AP . Archaeologists came across the finding while cleaning the sands around a...

Earliest Mummy &#39;Recipe&#39; Found


Earliest Known Egyptian
Mummy Is Discovered
new study
Aug 16, 2018 10:35 AM CDT

Earliest Known Egyptian Mummy Is Discovered

He moves back the start of the embalming practice about 1,500 years

(Newser) - He was probably in his 20s and died nearly 6,000 years ago in Egypt. Beyond that, not much is known about the mystery man—except that he has helped scientists rewrite the book on mummification. Chemical analysis reveals that whoever buried him also embalmed him, and that pushes back...

Scientists Link Devices' Blue Light to Serious Eye Trouble

When blue light hits our retinas, toxic molecules flow, killing eye cells we can't get back

(Newser) - Staring at your smartphone, tablet, or computer screen for hours on end may not only be fueling your online addiction—it could be wreaking havoc on your eyesight. So says a new study out of the University of Toledo, published in the Scientific Reports journal, and it's all because...

Prozac May Be Hurting Birds&#39; Libido
Prozac's Odd Side Effect:
Less Frisky Birds
new study
Aug 7, 2018 11:05 AM CDT

Prozac's Odd Side Effect: Less Frisky Birds

Females get trace amounts at sewage plants, become less desirable to mates

(Newser) - We humans consume a lot of antidepressants, and that means birds inadvertently do the same while feeding at sewage plants. Now researchers in the UK suggest that it's taking a toll on the birds' libidos, making them—or at least the females—less attractive to prospective mates. In their...

Find Made at Jamestown May Be a Significant One
Find Made at Jamestown
May Be a Significant One
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jul 29, 2018 7:03 AM CDT

Find Made at Jamestown May Be a Significant One

Archaeologists suspect they may have found George Yeardley's remains

(Newser) - "Who got such a prominent burial in the church?" It's the question archaeologists believe they know the answer to, though only time—and DNA analysis—will tell. Scientists working in Jamestown, Va., have unearthed remains they suspect might belong to Sir George Yeardley, the first governor of Virginia,...

Space May Be 20% Closer Than We Thought
World's 'Most
Widely Accepted
Boundary' May
Be Wrong
NEW STUDY
Jul 26, 2018 10:00 AM CDT

World's 'Most Widely Accepted Boundary' May Be Wrong

Astrophysicist says Karman Line is 50 miles above Earth, not 62

(Newser) - Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell calls the Karman Line the world's "most widely accepted boundary." It's otherwise known as the point where space meets Earth's atmosphere, and since before the launch of Sputnik, it's thought to have hovered 62 miles above our heads. Until now. In...

Scientists Claim to Have Found Martian Lake

They speculate more could be hidden, though plenty more study is needed

(Newser) - Italian scientists searching for evidence of water on Mars—even signs that it was there billions of years ago—believe they've found a lake filled with the liquid just a mile beneath the Red Planet's southern polar ice cap. Though outside experts have yet to confirm the finding,...

Scientists ID Largest Dino Foot Ever Found, 20 Years Later

Body part from Wyoming belongs to 'Bigfoot' brachiosaur

(Newser) - "Bigfoot" has been found, just not the apish version. An international team of paleontologists has announced the discovery of the largest known dinosaur foot, which belonged to a close relative of the Brachiosaurus now dubbed "Bigfoot." Appropriately so, as a nearly complete left hind-foot fossil totaling 13...

Reaction to Revolting Sarcophagus Liquid? Let Us Drink It

Or so reads a petition with 17K signatures

(Newser) - Where there's a will, there's a way? A 2,000-year-old black sarcophagus was opened last week and revealed the revolting : three skeletons, a vile red liquid, and a terrible smell. Now there's a Change.org petition going from people who are fighting for the right to drink...

'Significant' Bowie Recording Found in Bread Basket

Demo tape of star singing at age 16 will go on the auction block

(Newser) - Misplaced oddity? David Bowie's very first demo track, made when he was just 16, is set to go on the auction block in September and could fetch as much as $13,000. The Guardian and Independent report that the 1963 recording of Bowie—then known by his given name,...

Shipwreck Rumored to Hide $132B in Gold Is Found
Shipwreck Rumored to Hide
$132B in Gold Is Found
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jul 22, 2018 10:11 AM CDT

Shipwreck Rumored to Hide $132B in Gold Is Found

Seoul-based Shinil Group spots possible 'treasure boxes'

(Newser) - Days after finding a sunken Russian battleship rumored to have gone down with what would now be $132 billion in gold, a South Korean treasure-hunting team is teasing a big reveal. Shinil Group this week announced the discovery of the Russian Imperial Navy cruiser Dmitrii Donskoi, which is believed to...

450-Year-Old Wreck Holds Something 'Unique'

But rare, ancient grappling hook will remain with the wreckage of the Swedish ship Mars

(Newser) - Seven years after it was found, a 454-year-old shipwreck in the Baltic Sea is still revealing its treasures. Cannons, a hand grenade, possible remains of helmets and swords, and a large grappling hook used to rein in enemy ships are among recent discoveries aboard Mars, a Swedish warship that sank...

Ex-Racing Champ Makes 'Incredible' Find in Outback

Larry Perkins discovers explorer's gear, lost a century ago

(Newser) - Larry Perkins once preferred the racetrack. But for the last six years, the retired Formula One driver has been cruising around the Australian Outback, following the footsteps of explorers. What he found on his latest venture, 18 months in the making, might crown all his other achievements. Winning car races...

Scientists Find the World&#39;s Earliest Bread
In Ancient Fireplace, an
'Exceptional' Food Find
NEW STUDY
Jul 17, 2018 10:25 AM CDT

In Ancient Fireplace, an 'Exceptional' Food Find

Researchers find the world's oldest bread

(Newser) - At least 4,000 years before the advent of farming, humans were baking bread. Two dozen charred crumbs found in hearths at an ancient hunter-gatherer site in northeastern Jordan have been identified as the world's oldest samples of bread—specifically, a 14,400-year-old flatbread made from wild cereals. That...

At an Egyptian Site Last Excavated in 1900, a Significant Find

Archaeologists hope to learn more about mummification process used 2.5K years ago

(Newser) - "It's only the beginning," is how Egypt's antiquities minister on Saturday described a find made at a site near the country's famed pyramids at an ancient necropolis south of Cairo. The discovery—which includes a mummification workshop and a shaft, used as a communal burial...

Queen&#39;s Chocolate Survives 118 Years
Royal Find: the
'Most Controversial
Chocolate Ever Made'
in case you missed it
Jul 14, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

Royal Find: the 'Most Controversial Chocolate Ever Made'

118-year-old tin ordered by Queen Victoria for soldiers in Boer War found in woman's cupboard

(Newser) - When Eddisons CJM put a tin of World War I chocolates up for auction last month, there was one person who wasn't terribly impressed. "A lady from London wrote and said, 'Hundred-and-three-year-old chocolate is not so special,'" auctioneer Paul Cooper tells the Daily Express . That'...

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