discoveries

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

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Scientist Says This Frozen Vest Could Help You Lose Weight

Dr. Wayne Hayes claims the vest can help burn up to 500 calories a day

(Newser) - If you've ever wished you could burn a fair amount of calories just by sitting around, and you don't mind that just-jumped-into-a-swimming-pool feeling, a NASA scientist may have a solution: his Cold Shoulder Calorie Burning Vest. Dr. Wayne Hayes, who has studied both ice and the effects mild...

'Gospel of Jesus' Wife' Gets Even More Cryptic

Previous owner would've risked all to get it from East Germany

(Newser) - There are two camps when it comes to the so-called Gospel of Jesus' Wife : one that believes the Coptic fragment is the real deal, and one that's convinced it's a fake. There's evidence to back up either side: Radiocarbon dating indicates the papyrus dates to AD800, and...

Scientists Find New Rat With Curious Pubic Hair

Meet the hog-nosed rat

(Newser) - A newly found creature's name is the hog-nosed rat, and things don't get any more picturesque from there. Reporting on their find in the Journal of Mammalogy , scientists describe the animal, found in 2013 on Mount Dako, on Indonesia's Sulawesi Island: It's a long-faced carnivorous creature...

Wolves Have Taken Over Chernobyl

Elk, deer, wild boar also enjoying life free from human habitation

(Newser) - What happens when humans abandon 1,600 square miles because of radioactivity? Wildlife runs rampant, apparently. A new study on animals in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone shows what once looked something like a wasteland is now packed with elk, roe deer, red deer, wild boar, and wolves. Researchers conducted aerial...

'Gift From God' Helps Wife Recover Lost Wedding Ring

Rosa Pineda believed she'd never see it again

(Newser) - When Rosa Pineda lost her wedding ring in the Pacific Ocean, she cried and figured it was long gone—until her husband stumbled onto what she calls "a gift from God," ABC News reports. Rosa and Rudy Pineda were with their family on Shell Beach at Pismo Beach,...

Ancient &#39;Mega-Tsunami&#39; Could Happen Again

 Ancient 'Mega-Tsunami' 
 Could Happen Again 
study says
Oct 4, 2015 3:40 PM CDT

Ancient 'Mega-Tsunami' Could Happen Again

Scientists marvel at what happened on island of Santiago

(Newser) - A huge tsunami apparently struck an island off the coast of Africa in prehistoric times—and if so, people living on islands and coastlines today should take care for their safety. According to a new study , a tsunami over 50 stories high swept through the Cape Verdean island of Santiago...

Mom Finds Poignant Note From Her Dead 6-Year-Old
Mom Finds Poignant Note From Her Dead 6-Year-Old
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Oct 4, 2015 11:07 AM CDT

Mom Finds Poignant Note From Her Dead 6-Year-Old

'We have no idea when he wrote it,' his mom says

(Newser) - Like many 6-year-olds, Leland Shoemake loved getting dirty. He also loved history, Steven Spielberg, and Adam Sandler. But "the one thing he loved most was playing in the dirt," his mother, Amber Shoemake, writes on Facebook . "I never imagined that would be the thing that would take...

Tiny Animal May Solve a Big Pollution Problem

The humble mealworm can live on styrofoam

(Newser) - A bunch of tiny worms may have just solved a problem that's plagued scientists and environmentalists for years: what to do with the 30 million tons of plastics that end up in US landfills annually. Researchers at Stanford University and China's Beihang University fed Styrofoam—long assumed to...

These Are the Best Fruits, Veggies for Weight Loss
 These Are the 
 Best Fruits, Veggies 
 for Weight Loss 
in case you missed it
Oct 3, 2015 3:20 PM CDT

These Are the Best Fruits, Veggies for Weight Loss

Cauliflower, berries, apples are good choices: study

(Newser) - It might be time to up your produce intake: A new study in PLOS Medicine finds certain fruits and veggies can help lower a person's weight. The US dietary guidelines note people should eat a variety of fruits and vegetables to help "achieve and maintain a healthy weight,...

Beauty Really Is in the Eye of Beholder
Beauty Really Is in
the Eye of Beholder
study says
Oct 3, 2015 2:20 PM CDT

Beauty Really Is in the Eye of Beholder

Some preferences universal, but our personal experiences also play a big role

(Newser) - Research has already established that most of us prefer faces that are symmetrical, and probably because it is an indicator of good health. But universal standards of beauty don't go much further than that—in fact even identical twins (who have identical DNA) disagree about who is attractive, researchers...

It Was Easier to Be Thin 20 Years Ago
 It Was Easier to Be Thin 
 20 Years Ago 
study says
Oct 3, 2015 6:31 AM CDT

It Was Easier to Be Thin 20 Years Ago

Study says millennials have to work harder than their parents

(Newser) - It's hard out there for millennials: the economy tanked, the Earth is getting hotter, sometimes Facebook crashes. Oh, and they'll end up fatter than people 20 to 40 years ago even if they eat and exercise the same, according to a study in Obesity Research & Clinical Practice...

Killer Finds: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including mushroom-powered phones and the missing piece of an ancient poem

(Newser) - A long-awaited Mars announcement and some new lines to a very old story make the list:
  • Scientists Uncover Missing Piece to Ancient Poem : In 2011, a professor was examining 90 clay tablets for sale when he suddenly told the director of Iraq's Sulaymaniyah Museum to pony up the money
...

Stop &#39;Phubbing&#39; Your Significant Other

 Stop 'Phubbing' Your 
 Significant Other 
NEW STUDY
Oct 2, 2015 8:58 AM CDT

Stop 'Phubbing' Your Significant Other

'Phone snubbing' could be harming your love life: researchers

(Newser) - Cellphones may offer the ultimate communication convenience, but they could also be sabotaging our romantic relationships—via users who "phub" (phone snub) their partners, a new study finds. The study in the January 2016 issue of Computers in Human Behavior found that 46% of respondents reported feeling phubbed by...

App Allows Others to Rate You Like a Restaurant

And Peeple isn't sitting well with everyone

(Newser) - Your reputation may be about to get a lot more public. New app Peeple, launching in November, will let users 21 or older review basically anyone—friends, coworkers, exes, you name it—as long as they use their real name. You can't opt out and anyone with your cell...

Talking to a Shrink May Not Work as Well as You Think

Publication bias keeps out negative results in efficacy calculations: researchers

(Newser) - No one is denying that talking things out with a therapist can be helpful for those with depression. But, like antidepressants, psychotherapy's usefulness may be overstated, researchers say, per the New York Times —by as much as 25%, finds a study in PLOS One . "This doesn't...

Scientists Uncover Missing Piece to Ancient Poem

Offers new details of Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh

(Newser) - When a man arrived at Iraq's Sulaymaniyah Museum offering to sell 80 to 90 clay tablets in 2011, it was Farouk Al-Rawi's job to study them. The professor at SOAS, University of London, found a few fakes in the mix, but spent much of his time examining a...

Expert: Lost Photo Shows Jesse James and His Killer

Forensic artist Lois Gibson says she's 'positive it's Jesse James'

(Newser) - Few photos have been found of notorious outlaw Jesse James. Even fewer show James and his assassin Robert Ford—but one has apparently just been authenticated. Lois Gibson, a forensic artist with the Houston Police Department, says an undated tintype photo shared with her shows James seated next to Ford,...

How Portobello Mushrooms May Power Your Phone

Their porous structure is key

(Newser) - It isn't happening just yet, but a new scientific paper shows that it's possible, and perhaps even advantageous, to make batteries out of organic biological materials that have the added benefit of being cheap, environmentally friendly, and easy to produce, reports CNET . Engineers at the University of California,...

Doing Dishes Relieves Stress— If You Do It Right

Mindfulness can be achieved through the most mundane everyday activities

(Newser) - Washing the dishes can be a calming activity, and not just because it's repetitive. Reporting in the journal Mindfulness , Florida State University researchers say that those who do it mindfully (i.e., really smelling the soap, sensing the water temperature) enjoy increased feelings of inspiration and decreased nervousness. Not...

Painting Looted by Nazis Turns Up in Ohio Home

Portrait of a Young Man was returned to Poland last week

(Newser) - A nearly 300-year-old painting stolen from Poland's National Museum by the Nazis during WWII was found in July hanging in an Ohio family's home, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Krzysztof Lubieniecki's Portrait of a Young Man is believed to have been looted by Nazi troops—like 70% of...

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