discoveries

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

Stories 321 - 340 | << Prev   Next >>

Crow and Magpie Nests Show the 'Birds Are Outsmarting Us'

Study finds they have made nests using anti-bird spikes

(Newser) - Crows in particular have long demonstrated spooky levels of intelligence, but a new Dutch study shows they, along with magpies, have an ability to adapt to their urban environments that isn't just clever but ironic as well. The Guardian reports that researchers with Rotterdam's Natural History Museum and...

After Humans Spread COVID to Deer, They Got Us Back

Researchers identify cases of deer-to-human transmission

(Newser) - Humans spread COVID-19 to American deer more than 100 times, according to a new analysis, which shows the "deer-adapted" virus jumped back to humans on a few occasions. The study, confirming early alpha and gamma variants were circulating in deer after becoming rare in people, raises concerns that the...

We May Have to Rethink When People Arrived in the Americas

Pendants made from now-extinct giant sloths found in Brazil date back 25K-27K years

(Newser) - New research suggests humans lived in South America at the same time as now extinct giant sloths, reports the AP , bolstering evidence that people arrived in the Americas earlier than once thought. Scientists analyzed triangular and teardrop-shaped pendants made of bony material from the sloths. They concluded that the carved...

Deadliest Skin Cancer Is Deadliest for Black Men
Deadliest Skin Cancer Is
Deadliest for Black Men
NEW STUDY
Jul 11, 2023 11:36 AM CDT

Deadliest Skin Cancer Is Deadliest for Black Men

One factor that plays a role in the US: diagnosis delays, scientists say

(Newser) - Melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, is more common and more deadly in men than it is in women. It is also much more common in white men than in Black men, yet Black men ultimately fare worse, the reasons for which are explored in what's touted...

Scientists Find a Rare 'Octopus Nursery'

Site off Costa Rica is only the third such site known to exist (by humans)

(Newser) - Researchers exploring the ocean floor off the coast of Costa Rica discovered an incredibly rare thing: an octopus nursery. The deep-sea area is exactly what it sounds like—a place where brooding octopuses gather to hatch their eggs, reports NPR . The discovery brings the number of known octopus nurseries in...

Female Frogs Know How to Tell Males to Get Lost
Female Frogs Know How
to Tell Males to Buzz Off
new study
Jul 3, 2023 9:55 AM CDT

Female Frogs Know How to Tell Males to Buzz Off

In at least one species, their distinctive croaks deter males looking to mate

(Newser) - How to put this delicately. "Black-spotted male frogs will jump on anything that looks like a female, including nonorganic objects," says Japanese researcher Makato M. Itoh of Nagoya University. But the females, it appears, have developed a simple way to ward off males looking to mate if they...

You Can Stop Counting Calories to Lose Weight
Study: You Can Stop Counting
Calories to Lose Weight
in case you missed it
Jul 2, 2023 12:07 PM CDT

Study: You Can Stop Counting Calories to Lose Weight

Researchers find intermittent fasting is as effective for dropping pounds as consciously cutting calories

(Newser) - If it's easier for you to keep track of when you're eating than what you're eating, a new study may bring good news for the long haul. For research published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal , scientists wanted to see who lost more weight and...

Combining Math, Music Study Boost Student Test Scores

A half century of research went into drawing this conclusion

(Newser) - Jazz great Duke Ellington once said music "is as modern as tomorrow" and "endless as ... mathematics." Scientists who combed through 50 years of research might tell the Duke he was onto something. While past research had noted the connection between musical inclination and math ability, a new...

Scientists Discover Why Biting Flies Are Attracted to Blue

Daytime biting flies misclassify blue objects as animals

(Newser) - Bluebirds, blue-tailed skinks, blue whales, and Babe the Big Blue Ox aside, blue animals are rare in nature, but biting flies still associate the color with food, researchers say. Lead researcher Roger Santer from Aberystwyth University in Wales says entomologists have long known that biting flies active in the daytime,...

Curly-Haired People: You Are Cooler Than Others
Curly-Haired
People: You
Are Cooler
Than Others
New Study
Jul 1, 2023 8:30 AM CDT

Curly-Haired People: You Are Cooler Than Others

Literally

(Newser) - A new Penn State study reported by Smithsonian Magazine has determined that humans in general evolved with more hair on our heads for a reason: to cool off our growing brains. And according to the researchers who authored the paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , curly-haired...

Astronomers &#39;Hear&#39; Black Hole Collisions
Astronomers 'Hear'
Black Hole Collisions
new study
Jun 29, 2023 7:55 AM CDT

Astronomers 'Hear' Black Hole Collisions

Major discovery seems to affirm a theory of Albert Einstein

(Newser) - Scientists have observed for the first time the faint ripples caused by the motion of black holes that are gently stretching and squeezing everything in the universe, per the AP . They reported Wednesday that they were able to "hear" what are called low-frequency gravitational waves—changes in the fabric...

No, That&#39;s Not an Ancient Pizza
No, That's Not an Ancient Pizza
Jun 28, 2023 12:08 PM CDT

No, That's Not an Ancient Pizza

2K-year-old Pompeii fresco looks like pizza, but the ingredients weren't around at the time

(Newser) - A still-life fresco discovered recently in Pompeii looks like it depicts a pizza, but it doesn't, experts at the archaeological site said Tuesday. They noted that key ingredients needed to make Italy's iconic dish—tomatoes and mozzarella—were not available when the fresco was painted some 2,000...

For Guardians of Rare Turtles, an Unprecedented Sight

Hatchlings of critically endangered species recorded emerging for the first time

(Newser) - Conservationists are celebrating an unprecedented sight in regard to a species of turtle on the brink of extinction: A batch of babies emerged from the mud in Myanmar, and their human guardians were able to record it for the first time in the wild, reports the New York Times . The...

Last &#39;Ingredient&#39; for Life Found on Saturn Moon
Life Requires 6 Elements.
This Moon Has Them All
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 24, 2023 6:30 AM CDT

Life Requires 6 Elements. This Moon Has Them All

Scientists detect phosphorous on the Saturn moon of Enceladus, the last element missing

(Newser) - Scientists have detected phosphorous in the icy mist from one of Saturn's moons. That in itself might not sound like a big deal unless you consider that they previously detected carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur there as well. And that might not sound like a big deal unless...

Ancient Mayan City Found in Dense Jungle

Yucatan site was an important center more than 1,000 years ago, archaeologists say

(Newser) - Archaeologists searching an area of uninhabited jungle almost the size of Rhode Island have found the Mayan equivalent of Providence. Mexico's anthropology institute says the previously unknown ancient city was spotted in searches of the Balamku ecological reserve on the Yucatan Peninsula using aerial laser mapping, reports Reuters . Researchers...

Young People Are Really Into Their Shrooms These Days

From 2018 to 2021, young adults' use of hallucinogens nearly doubled

(Newser) - Not in several decades have young adults in the United States done so much tripping on hallucinogens. That's the upshot of a new study that found the use of such mind-altering drugs nearly doubled from 2018 to 2021. According to research published in the journal Addiction , based on stats...

Researchers See Potential Tool in Fight Against Aging
Researchers
See Potential
Tool in Fight
Against Aging
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 17, 2023 4:45 PM CDT

Researchers See Potential Tool in Fight Against Aging

Additional taurine helps monkeys and mice, but whether this applies to humans is unclear

(Newser) - The reason you might be hearing about "taurine" a lot in the near future: A new study in Science suggests the amino acid boosts longevity, at least in animals. Nobody is asserting the same applies to humans, and the researchers emphasize that they don't recommend people start taking...

Emerging Dialect in US: Call It Miami English
Call It Miami English:
'Get Down From the Car'
new study
Jun 17, 2023 11:30 AM CDT

Call It Miami English: 'Get Down From the Car'

Linguists detect new American dialect in South Florida, thanks to Spanish-English blending

(Newser) - Americans all over the country might tell someone to "get out of the car." In South Florida, you might hear a slightly different version: "Get down from the car." Linguists say it's a not-random bit of slang—it's evidence of an emerging American dialect...

Ancient Lucy Could&#39;ve Walked Much Like Us
Ancient Lucy
Had Some Pretty
Powerful Legs
NEW STUDY
Jun 15, 2023 9:55 AM CDT

Ancient Lucy Had Some Pretty Powerful Legs

Knee extensor muscles were like modern humans', meaning she could have walked like us: researcher

(Newser) - Part of the reason the human ancestor known as Lucy is so famous is that her bones, discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, indicated her hominin species, Australopithecus afarensis, was among the first to walk on two legs more than 3 million years ago. But what would her long-vanished muscles tell...

15th-Century Minstrel Served Up a &#39;Comedy Feast&#39;
Ancient Manuscript Offers Rare
Glimpse of Minstrel Show
in case you missed it
Jun 11, 2023 10:45 AM CDT

Ancient Manuscript Offers Rare Glimpse of Minstrel Show

15th-century document might be the first known look at the entertainment

(Newser) - A preacher gives a sermon on the virtues of heavy drinking. A group of kings feast until their stomachs burst and out come two dozen murderous oxen. Such is the stuff of medieval comedy shows, revealed through the pages of a rare, 15th-century manuscript held in the National Library of...

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