discoveries

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

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Low Wages Cost Taxpayers $153B a Year
 Low Wages 
 Cost Taxpayers 
 $153B a Year 
NEW STUDY
Apr 13, 2015 2:04 PM CDT

Low Wages Cost Taxpayers $153B a Year

About half of public assistance goes to working households

(Newser) - The Fight for $15 is planning a big day for Tax Day , and ahead of that comes a study that gives credence to its premise that minimum wage isn't enough to live on: A UC Berkeley study out today pegs the cost of low wages at $153 billion a...

Study: Flying Really Is Getting Worse

Researchers find bad news in all 4 big areas studied

(Newser) - If you've ever found yourself complaining that flying was a much better experience back when you were a young'un, you're not just being a crotchety oldster: A study released today finds that flying is, in fact, worse than it used to be. The AP has highlights from...

Studying Math? Don&#39;t Smoke Marijuana

 Pot-Smoking 
 Students Fail 
 More Courses 
study says
Apr 12, 2015 3:50 PM CDT

Pot-Smoking Students Fail More Courses

Especially math courses, study says

(Newser) - Hanging out in marijuana cafes and smoking the night away is not exactly good for your grades, especially in math, according to a new study . Researchers drew this conclusion after comparing more than 54,000 grades of undergraduates in the Dutch city of Maastricht, where some were banned from the...

Hallucinogenic Brew May Help Depression
 Hallucinogenic Brew 
 May Help Depression 
study says
Apr 12, 2015 1:00 PM CDT

Hallucinogenic Brew May Help Depression

Results from first human clinical trial of ayahuasca are promising

(Newser) - A psychedelic brew from the jungles of Brazil shows promise as a treatment for depression—in fact, as a treatment for those who don't respond to more traditional medication. Researchers at the University of Sao Paulo have just published the results of the first clinical trial involving the anti-depressant...

Scientists Make Amazing 'Fairy Circle' Finding

The circles' layout matches those of skin cells

(Newser) - The Namibian desert is home to what are called " fairy circles ": strange formations of grassless earth surrounded by grass. Almost perfect circles, they're the subject of local myths, the BBC reports. Researchers still don't know what causes them, but new findings could help them figure it...

Worst Case for Oceans: Another 'Great Dying'

Study blames Permian mass extinction on ocean acidity

(Newser) - The planet's greatest extinction —the Permian mass extinction, or the "Great Dying"—wiped out around 90% of marine species and two-thirds of those on land over 60,000 years. Some 252 million years later, researchers are explaining what happened—and it may not bode well for...

Smartphones Can Warn of Earthquakes
 Smartphones 
 to Warn of 
 Huge Quakes 
study says
Apr 11, 2015 5:30 PM CDT

Smartphones to Warn of Huge Quakes

Crowd-sourced data could give us precious seconds, study says

(Newser) - Ah, the buzzing smartphone: It's a call, a tweet, a funny photo—or an earthquake? Yep, scientists say crowd-sourced data may one day relay warnings about impending quakes that have already begun elsewhere, LiveScience reports. In a computer-model study led by the US Geological Survey, researchers found that smartphones...

How Worm Lizards Managed to Get Across the Oceans

Ancient creatures apparently surfed on plant matter

(Newser) - You may not be familiar with worm lizards, but they've actually done quite well for themselves: The 180 living species of amphisbaenians, as they're called, live on five continents, Nature World News reports, and they've been around for a very, very long time. So long, in fact,...

'Power Posing' May Not Live Up to the Hype

Study can't replicate inspiring findings

(Newser) - A popular and inspiring 2012 TED Talk extolled the benefits of "power posing": That is, stretching your body into what researchers called "open, expansive postures" associated with dominance in order to feel more powerful. It's an encouraging idea, as the researchers put it, "that a person...

East Coast Clams May Be 'Catching' Cancer

Researchers make surprising discovery

(Newser) - A new study suggests cancer that's killing clams on the East Coast has a unique characteristic—it's contagious. Assuming the research is correct, it would be only the third example of this in nature, the first two involving dogs and Tasmanian devils. But the findings suggest that this...

Scientists Find Oldest Neanderthal DNA

It could offer new insights into prehistoric life

(Newser) - About 150,000 years ago, an individual wandered into a cave, fell into a well, and never came back up. Thanks to that accident, scientists have their hands on the oldest Neanderthal DNA in existence, reports Phys.org . The skeleton known as Altamura Man was found in a cave in...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a possible key to better sleep and big news about the brontosaurus

(Newser) - A preschool paleontologist and a Shakespearean announcement make the list:
  • 4-Year-Old's Big Find in Texas: a Dino : For 4-year-old Wylie Brys, a chance dig in the dirt behind a Texas shopping center led to a giant discovery: the fossil of what could be a 100-million-year-old dinosaur. Scientists from SMU
...

10-Hour Workdays Tied to 'Risky' Drinking

Study: Those who work 48-hour-plus weeks 11% more likely to be a heavy drinker

(Newser) - That extra glass of wine you're downing every night after you've put in a 10-hour workday could be because … of that 10-hour workday. A review of 61 studies across 14 countries (for a total of more than 330,000 subjects) linked working more than 48 hours a...

Did Science Just Discover a New Shakespeare Play?

Psych theory and text-analyzing software show 'Double Falsehood' may be Bard's

(Newser) - Did William Shakespeare pen Double Falsehood after all? Texas researchers say he probably did after comparing the play to "psychological signatures" they worked up for the Bard, Lewis Theobald (the supposed author), and Shakespeare contemporary John Fletcher. The study, published in Psychological Science , used text-analyzing software and psychological theory...

4-Year-Old's Big Find in Texas: a Dinosaur

Wylie Brys discovered what may be a 100M-year-old nodosaur

(Newser) - Imagine being a 4-year-old boy who loves dinosaurs, digging in the dirt, and spending time with your dad. For Wylie Brys, those three passions intertwined for the best day ever last September when he made an astounding discovery behind a shopping center in Mansfield, Texas: the fossil of what scientists...

Nearly 10% of Americans Have Both Anger Issues and Guns
Nearly 10% of Us Have Both
Anger Issues and Guns
STUDY SAYS
Apr 9, 2015 10:30 AM CDT

Nearly 10% of Us Have Both Anger Issues and Guns

Researchers say identifying more serious mental health issues won't do the trick

(Newser) - When Duke University researchers asked subjects to reveal a) if they've ever exhibited impulsive angry behavior, and b) if they have easy access to a gun, 8.9% of them copped to such anger management issues and a gun in their home, while 1.5% of them admitted to...

Hawaiian King's Treasures Home After 191 Years

Smithsonian returns more than 1K artifacts belonging to King Kamehameha II

(Newser) - A shipwreck hunter describes it as the first luxury ocean-going yacht built in the US, one that reportedly hit a shallow reef in April 1824, when everyone on board—save, perhaps, the captain—may have been drunk. Though no one is recorded to have died, the 83-foot ship, which belonged...

'Creepy' Doodles Emerge From Medieval Text

UV light reveals erased additions to the Welsh 'Black Book'

(Newser) - Experts have uncovered what LiveScience calls "ghostly" secrets hidden in a medieval manuscript, which happens to be one of the first to reference King Arthur and Merlin. "The Black Book of Carmarthen" was compiled around 1250, but contains poetry, religious verses, and other texts dating as far back...

Europeans&#39; White Skin Came Later Than Thought
 Europeans' White Skin
Came Later Than Thought
study says
Apr 7, 2015 5:45 PM CDT

Europeans' White Skin Came Later Than Thought

Study suggests trait emerged about 8K years ago

(Newser) - Science notes that Europe is often thought of as the "ancestral home of white people." But a new DNA study suggests that pale skin and other traits we associate with the continent may have emerged only within the last 8,000 years—a "relatively recent" occurrence....

Our Tires Could Soon Be Made of ... Lettuce?

Prickly lettuce could serve as source in natural rubber production: scientists

(Newser) - Fears of a serious natural-rubber shortage should have surgical glove, condom, and especially tire manufacturers shaking in their rubber boots. But Washington State University researchers have pinpointed a creative way to potentially create more natural rubber while also making use of what's usually just a pesky weed. The study...

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