discoveries

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

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A Canadian Lake Has Fallen Off a Cliff

Rain, warming temperatures melted ice headwalls

(Newser) - In June, Canadian officials warned that a nameless lake in the Northwest Territories was about to fall off a cliff. It did. On July 15, a section of ground ice that's been around since the last ice age gave way, sending roughly half of the lake's 1 million...

Study Shows Why Giant Pandas Need Tinder

Mutual attraction drastically increases the likelihood of panda babies

(Newser) - The scientist who invents a Tinder for giant pandas may just single-handedly save the endangered species. A study published Tuesday in Nature Communications found that pandas are much more likely to successfully mate when they're attracted to each other. It seems like an obvious conclusion, and that's why...

What a Trip: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including tips to spot fibbers and the glory of magic mushrooms

(Newser) - A surprise finding about cancers of all types and a study of the Putin stroll make the list:
  • Almost All Cancer Cases Are Our Fault : A Stony Brook University study shows that up to 90% of cancers are caused by external factors such as smoking, drinking, sun exposure, and air
...

Study May Reveal Why Some People Live So Long

It's in the genes

(Newser) - Science may be closer to figuring out why some people live so darn long. Researchers studying 1,800 people over the age of 100 and another 5,400 over the age of 90 discovered four genes linked to their longevity, Live Science reports. "There's a reasonably strong genetic...

14% of Motorcycle Owners Are Women

 14% of Motorcycle 
 Owners Are 
 Women 
SURVEY SAYS
Dec 18, 2015 3:40 PM CST

14% of Motorcycle Owners Are Women

And the ladies are younger and better trained than male riders

(Newser) - More women are riding high on the hog than ever—literally. A survey by the Motorcycle Industry Council found that the ladies make up 14% of US motorcycle owners, and the ones who ride are younger, more educated, and more into motorcycle safety than their male counterparts, the Los Angeles ...

America's Oldest European Settlement Has Been Found

The colony in Pensacola predates Jamestown by nearly 50 years

(Newser) - The Pensacola News Journal has a highly interactive and informative look at a major discovery out of Florida: the oldest multi-year European settlement in the United States. “This is one of those almost once-in-a-lifetime type things,” University of West Florida professor John Worth says. "I didn’t...

In Some Ways, Americans' Teeth Worse Than Brits'

We're missing more of our chompers, study finds

(Newser) - A Washington Post article features a giant image of Austin Powers and a reminder of his "grotesquely discolored grin." It's evidence, of course, of how awful English teeth are, especially as compared with Americans' pearly whites. Except, as a new study published Wednesday in the BMJ finds,...

9 in 10 Cancer Cases Are Our Fault: Study

Don't blame genes or bad luck so much as external factors: scientists

(Newser) - Despite a recent study claiming the opposite , scientists say getting cancer isn't just bad luck in most cases. A study out of Stony Brook University shows as much as 90% of cancers are caused by external factors, like smoking, drinking, sun exposure, and air pollution, and are thus more...

Helping Others Could Be Good for Your Mental Health

Study shows small acts of kindness help us cope with stress

(Newser) - It turns out getting in the holiday spirit can be good for your mental health. A study published last week in Clinical Psychological Science found performing small acts of kindness for others can give us an improved outlook on things and help us to better deal with stress. "Stressful...

Droughts Could Be Even Worse for Trees Than We Thought

And the effects can last for years, study says

(Newser) - The ability of Earth's forests to stand up to droughts may be worse than previously believed. The Washington Post reports that many current scientific models assume trees recover immediately following a drought. But Princeton's William Anderegg demonstrated droughts actually have "legacy effects" on trees in a study...

Physicists May Have Found Another New Particle

More data is needed before hints can be confirmed

(Newser) - First, scientists experimenting with CERN's Large Hadron Collider discovered the Higgs boson . Next came the possible discovery of pentaquarks . Now scientists may have detected a new, unknown particle. Working from June to mid-November, two teams from the European Organization for Nuclear Research, aka CERN, spotted excess pairs of gamma...

Your Computer Now Knows When You're Mad

The way you move your mouse is giving you away

(Newser) - We may like to think that we are indescribably complex emotional creatures, but computer scientists at Brigham Young University are finding that they can accurately predict one side of ourselves—our dark, angry side—simply by tracking the way we move a mouse while on a computer. "Using this...

US Executions at Lowest Level in Decades

New death sentences also way down

(Newser) - The number of people executed in the United States this year dropped to the lowest level since 1991, as states impose fewer death sentences and defendants in capital cases get access to better legal help. The Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit organization that opposes capital punishment and tracks the...

Study: Vegetarians Are Hurting the Planet
 Vegetarian Diets 
 Hurt the Planet, Too 
study says
Dec 15, 2015 4:45 PM CST

Vegetarian Diets Hurt the Planet, Too

'What is good for us health-wise isn't always what's best for the environment'

(Newser) - What part of a BLT do you think it's hardest on the environment to produce? Hint: It's not the meat. "Eating lettuce is over three times worse in greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon," Paul Fischbeck says in a Carnegie Mellon press release . "Lots of...

1st Basketball Game Was Basically a Giant Fight

According to a newly discovered audio recording of James Naismith

(Newser) - If any of the old-timers at your holiday gatherings this year complain about how basketball players have gotten soft and the fouls aren't as hard as they used to be, tell them to blame the game's inventor. A newly discovered audio recording of James Naismith—thought to be...

Study Finds Humans Are Really Good at Sleeping

We may have evolved to sleep less and deeper than our primate ancestors

(Newser) - Ever wonder why your cat sleeps all day while you're stuck with the measly seven hours you can cram in between Scandal and your morning commute? As it turns out, you're just way better at sleeping than your furry friend. According to a study in Evolutionary Anthropology, humans...

The Biggest Physics Breakthroughs of the Year

We now know what's needed for secure quantum teleportation

(Newser) - Physics World has given its 2015 Breakthrough of the Year award to two scientists in China who demonstrated the requirements for secure quantum teleportation. Sadly, this doesn't mean you'll be able to randomly appear anywhere in the world, but it's pretty cool regardless. Basically, the research...

Why Putin Walks That Weird Walk

It may be because of his KGB weapons training: scientists

(Newser) - The peculiar walk of one Vladimir Putin (left arm swinging naturally, right arm stiff at his side) has been the subject of speculation, with guesses ranging from childhood illness to an in-utero stroke, Live Science reports. But a group of Dutch neuroscientists—or "movement disorder enthusiasts," as they...

Experts Find Possible Tunnel, No Nazi Gold Train

But a man behind the claim isn't so convinced

(Newser) - So much for all that excitement ? Polish geology experts said Tuesday they have found no traces of a train at a site allegedly hiding a World War II Nazi train. Experts from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow examined the site in Walbrzych, in southwestern Poland,...

Study Suggests Romney Will Outlive Obama

Researchers studied 279 elected presidents and prime ministers

(Newser) - Leading a country doesn't just bring a few unwanted gray hairs . The stressful gig also takes years off a person's life, according to a new study in the journal BMJ . Research in this area has been conflicting: A previous study found no adverse effects on life expectancy, another...

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