discoveries

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

Stories 1581 - 1600 | << Prev   Next >>

Historic Cave: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Also: an intriguing find from high above the Amazon

(Newser) - A study sure to please firstborn children and a good-news-bad-news finding in regard to the Dead Sea Scrolls were among the discoveries to make headlines this week:
  • Firstborns Get an Early Jump : Firstborns really do have an advantage, a new UK study suggests. Research out of Edinburgh University finds that
...

Firstborn Kids Have Higher IQs by Age 1
Advantage for Firstborn
Kids Shows Up Early
new study
Feb 9, 2017 10:08 AM CST

Advantage for Firstborn Kids Shows Up Early

They have higher IQs by age 1, say researchers

(Newser) - Firstborns really do have an advantage, a new UK study suggests. Research out of Edinburgh University finds that there's a measurable IQ difference between firstborns and their siblings, and it shows up as early as age 1, reports the BBC . The reason? Parents tend to spend more time with...

Pregnant Women Should Avoid Eating This Treat
There's Another
Food No-No for
Pregnant Women
new study
Feb 9, 2017 8:40 AM CST

There's Another Food No-No for Pregnant Women

A sweetener in licorice might affect cognitive function in children

(Newser) - Wine, sushi, deli meat ... licorice? Perhaps. A new study suggests that licorice consumed during pregnancy could detrimentally affect a woman's offspring. Researchers in Finland say the culprit is glycyrrhizin, a tongue-twister of a sweetener that naturally occurs in the licorice plant and is also added to teas and herbal...

Man's Quest to Kill Roach in His Ear Has Unfortunate Result

A doctor ended up needing to pull it out

(Newser) - If you can bear it, we offer what Newsflare aptly describes as some "rather unpleasant footage" for your viewing displeasure—the type you won't want to see, can't help but see, and won't be able to unsee. It's video filmed last week that shows a...

They Kept Getting New Skin Cancer Spots. Then, a Vaccination

A new study suggests a possible link between the virus and skin cancers

(Newser) - He was in his 70s, she in her 80s. Both had had spots of skin cancer identified and removed, and both are the subjects of a very small study published Wednesday in JAMA Dermatology that suggests the HPV vaccine could help protect against certain types of skin cancer. Previous research...

Dead Sea Scrolls Cave Discovered, but Someone Got There First

Looters got there 70 years before researchers

(Newser) - Israeli researchers have discovered what they believe is the first new Dead Sea Scrolls cave uncovered in more than 60 years—but looters got there long before them. The site at the Qumran cliffs, an Israeli-controlled site in the West Bank, has yielded artifacts including pieces of pottery, broken scroll...

Drones Find Hundreds of Stonehenge-Like Spots in Amazon

More than 450 'geoglyphs' date from around the year 0

(Newser) - Scientists flying drones over the Amazon rainforest in Brazil have found more than 450 "geoglyphs" that are similar in size, structure, and possibly purpose to Stonehenge in England. The earthworks were likely used for public gatherings and rituals, researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...

3B-Year-Old &#39;Lost Continent&#39; Is Found
Ancient 
'Lost Continent'
Is Found
STUDY SAYS
Feb 6, 2017 8:30 PM CST

Ancient 'Lost Continent' Is Found

It hides under Mauritius: scientists

(Newser) - Before the various land masses that are now Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica went their separate ways some 200 million years ago, they were part of the supercontinent Gondwana. So, too, was a "lost continent" scientists say is now hiding beneath the island nation of Mauritius. In a video...

Don't Marry Mario: 'Locked-in' Patients Can Finally 'Talk'

They communicate by thinking yes or no

(Newser) - Four paralyzed patients unable to communicate for years were finally able to do so through a potentially groundbreaking brain-reading system. And it turns out that one of them really didn't want his daughter to marry her boyfriend. The patients all had advanced ALS and were unable to control even...

This Frog Hadn't Been Seen in the Wild Since 1962

'Cave squeaker' is found in Zimbabwe

(Newser) - The cave squeaker is back. Researchers in Zimbabwe say they have found a rare frog that hasn't been seen in decades, reports AP . The Artholeptis troglodytes, also known as the "cave squeaker" because of its preferred habitat, was discovered in 1962, but there were no reported sightings after...

Sweet Killer: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a look at your big-mouthed ancestor

(Newser) - A life-saving answer to a medical mystery and a human ancestor with unusual traits were among the discoveries to make headlines this week:
  • Deadly Brain Illness Blamed on Fruit : The Muzaffarpur area of produces 70% of India's lychee fruit. It's also the site of a mysterious and deadly
...

Deadly Brain Illness Blamed on Fruit
Deadly Brain Illness
Blamed on Fruit
NEW STUDY
Feb 1, 2017 8:21 AM CST

Deadly Brain Illness Blamed on Fruit

Toxin in lychee led to brain inflammation in kids: study

(Newser) - The Muzaffarpur area produces 70% of India's lychee fruit. It's also the site of a mysterious and deadly illness plaguing children in May and June for each of the last 22 years. Researchers now say the two facts go hand in hand. In a Lancet study, they say...

Fish Can&#39;t Talk, So They Pee Instead
Fish Can't Talk,
So They Pee Instead
NEW STUDY
Jan 31, 2017 11:43 AM CST

Fish Can't Talk, So They Pee Instead

For cichlids, urination is also a form of communication

(Newser) - Perhaps you know someone who's written his name in snow, you know, with urine. That's essentially what some fish do every day. In a study titled, "To pee or not to pee: urine signals mediate aggressive interactions in the cooperatively breeding cichlid," researchers explain that urination...

Your Life May Indeed Flash Before Your Eyes at Death
Your Life May Indeed Flash
Before Your Eyes at Death
new study
Jan 31, 2017 10:41 AM CST

Your Life May Indeed Flash Before Your Eyes at Death

But not chronologically, more of a jumble, say researchers

(Newser) - The idea that our lives flash before our eyes in the moments before we die may sound close to mystical, but neurologists at Hadassah University in Jerusalem say the phenomenon—or at least some version of it—appears to be quite common. They found, however, that "life review experiences,...

Kids Like Dogs Better Than Siblings
A Child's Best Friend?
It Really Is the Dog
 
NEW STUDY
Jan 30, 2017 3:35 PM CST

A Child's Best Friend? It Really Is the Dog

The benefits of having a pet may follow children into adulthood, researchers say

(Newser) - A child's best friend is the family pet, a new study suggests. Not only do kids report getting more satisfaction from relationships with the dog or cat than their brothers and sisters, they also get along better with the four-legged friend. "The fact that pets cannot understand or...

Corn-Eating Hamsters Cannibalize Their Young
'Deranged Cannibal'
Hamsters Really Do Exist
new study
Jan 30, 2017 1:47 PM CST

'Deranged Cannibal' Hamsters Really Do Exist

Lack of vitamin B3 causes 'dementia-like' symptoms

(Newser) - An all-corn diet can quite literally turn a female hamster into a cannibal. A new study found that the European hamster, which once used to feast on a varied diet of grains, roots, and insects, is not doing so well on a diet limited to industrially grown corn. Indeed, the...

This Thing Is Your Ancestor
This Thing Is
Your Ancestor
new study
Jan 30, 2017 1:23 PM CST

This Thing Is Your Ancestor

Scientists announce discovery of Saccorhytus coronaries

(Newser) - Our very primitive beginnings look to have been very primitive indeed. It turns out the earliest known ancestor of humans was a sea creature a millimeter in size that likely lacked an anus. In a study published in Nature on Monday, scientists named Saccorhytus coronaries as a 540 million-year-old member—...

First Photos of Reef at Amazon's Mouth Stun

But environmentalists worry oil drilling could soon put 600-mile-long reef at risk

(Newser) - Last year, scientists made an amazing discovery under the mud and muck at the mouth of the Amazon River: a long-rumored 600-mile-long coral reef. Now the first images of the natural phenomenon are emerging, captured from a sub sent 720 feet down into the murky waters off a Greenpeace boat,...

A Mighty Otter: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Also, a surprise insight about running's effect on the knees

(Newser) - An ancient otter of surprising size and an intriguing find about "dead" bodies were among the discoveries making headlines this week:
  • Giant Preshistoric Otter Found—but Why So Big? Picture an otter, then envision it ballooning to twice—or triple, or quadruple—its size until it's a 110-pound
...

We Can Finally Bring Back That Classic Tomato Flavor

Scientists ID the missing chemicals that make tomatoes taste good

(Newser) - It's high time for tomatoes to taste like tomatoes again, and a group of researchers believes it knows how to make that happen, according to a study published Thursday in Science . The Smithsonian reports tomatoes found in today's grocery stores are "nearly unrecognizable" from what tomatoes used...

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