discoveries

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

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Here's How We Quickly Judge Human Faces

Features lead to assumptions about character, study says

(Newser) - Have masculine or feminine features? A big smile? Characteristics like these, it seems, are central to our snap judgements of people's faces. Using a computer model, researchers have figured out how different features affect our first impressions, the BBC reports. The system is based on 1,000 pictures of...

Couples' Memories Become Intertwined

Their stories are more detailed when they work together: study

(Newser) - Couples may be able to remember together what the individual partners can't. Though studies have in the past suggested that collective recall doesn't work as well as individual, long-term relationships may provide an exception to the rule, io9 reports. In a new study, couples were in many cases...

Blood Test Might Reveal Suicide Risk

Gene key to our stress response: researchers

(Newser) - Scientists say they have a new way of determining suicide risk, and it's based on genetics—requiring only a blood test. Researchers running postmortem genome scans of brain samples found that the brains of those who'd committed suicide had less of a gene called SKA2, as well as...

&#39;Bad Timing&#39; Wiped Out Dinosaurs
 'Bad Timing' 
 Wiped Out 
 Dinosaurs 
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'Bad Timing' Wiped Out Dinosaurs

Asteroid hit at just the wrong time, researchers say

(Newser) - The huge asteroid that hit Earth 66 million years ago was very bad timing for the dinosaurs, a new study says—it wiped them out, but they probably would have survived if it had hit at a "more convenient" time. The impact in what is now Mexico is almost...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including an octopus especially devoted to her eggs

(Newser) - Two revelations about the moon were among the week's more intriguing discoveries:
  • The Moon Isn't Round: It Bulges Like a Lemon : We may have walked on it 45 years ago, but scientists have only now discovered the true shape of Earth's moon. And while it might look
...

New Ice Cream Changes Colors When Licked

Spanish physicist concocted sweet treat that reacts to temps, acids in human mouth

(Newser) - Manuel Linares is serious about ice cream. So serious that the Spanish physicist signed up for "mentored coursework" at a local business association, earned what he calls a "master's diploma in creating artisan ice cream," and created a frozen concoction that turns colors when it's...

The Moon Isn't Round— It Bulges Like a Lemon

The moon has a small bulge in its middle, but we can't see it

(Newser) - We may have walked on it 45 years ago, but scientists have only now discovered the true shape of Earth's moon. And while it appears to be a perfect sphere, it's actually "like a lemon with an equatorial bulge," one researcher tells the New York Times ...

Mystery of Giant Holes at 'End of the World' May Be Solved

Geologist thinks biggest is a sinkhole that 'erupted,' thanks to melting permafrost

(Newser) - Huge, mysterious gaping holes in Northern Siberia may not be such a mystery anymore. One scientist has pinned down a cause and, spoiler alert, it's not aliens or weapons testing, as had been theorized . The first hole discovered in the Yamal Peninsula, which is 260 feet wide , is likely...

Deep-Sea Octopus Guards Eggs for Years—Sans Food

4.5 years is the longest known brooding or gestation period of any animal

(Newser) - Talk about endurance. Elephants endure 20-month gestation periods, and some deep-sea sharks carry their embryos for even longer than that, but the deep-sea octopus takes the cake. Scientists say they've observed one in California guarding her eggs for 4.5 years, the longest known brooding or gestation period of...

Mammoths and Mastodons Stuck Close to Home

Study of ancient teeth reveal surprising clues about how and where they lived

(Newser) - Mr. Snuffleupagus and friends didn’t much like to leave home—at least not the ones that lived in what is now Ohio and Kentucky, a University of Cincinnati study reveals. Researchers had long believed mammoths and mastodons were nomadic, but their teeth tell a different story. Mammoths ate grasses...

Milky Way Is a 'Galactic Lightweight'

Same-sized neighbor Andromeda has twice the mass

(Newser) - If our galaxy were a boxer, it would have just slipped down a few weight classes—and would be no match for our neighbor Andromeda. New research has revealed that the Milky Way, while still mind-bogglingly vast, is only around half the weight of the Andromeda galaxy, which is about...

Moon May Hold Clues to Earth's Ancient Past

Study says fossils from Earth could survive the trip via meteor

(Newser) - Might the moon be able to shed some light on the origins of life on Earth? A new study out of the University of Kent opens the possibility that the moon could be littered with ancient fossils from our planet, reports New Scientist . No such fossil has been found to...

Tree Rings Solve Mystery of Old World Trade Center Ship

Study shows it got built in Philadelphia about 1773

(Newser) - A mystery ship unearthed during construction of the new World Trade Center site isn't so much of a mystery anymore. A new study based on analysis of tree rings in its wood reveals that the ship likely got built in 1773 in Philadelphia—and with the same white oak...

Running Just Minutes a Day Cuts Death Risk

Even if you're running slowly: study

(Newser) - Good news for those who keep meaning to exercise, but can never seem to find the time: If you can manage a few minutes of running a day—even going slowly—you may cut your risk of death from cardiovascular disease. So suggests a new, 15-year study of more than...

New Giant Holes Found at 'End of the World'

Experts puzzle over Siberian craters

(Newser) - One of the most remote areas in the world seems to be slowly turning into something resembling a slice of Swiss cheese. Two new huge holes have been discovered in a Siberian region nicknamed "the end of the world," reports the Siberian Times . A 260-foot-wide crater found in...

Why Fist Bumps Trump Handshakes
Why Fist Bumps
Trump Handshakes

Why Fist Bumps Trump Handshakes

Handshakes spread 20 times more germs, study says

(Newser) - A good, firm handshake is a great way to spread germs, according to researchers who say infections could be reduced if people adopted fist bumps instead. The researchers dipped gloved hands in bacteria and then shook hands with, high-fived, or fist-bumped sterile-gloved counterparts, the Los Angeles Times reports. They found...

Mediterranean Anchovies Thriving ... in Britain

British waters are getting a lot warmer

(Newser) - A man fishing off a pier on Britain's east coast was surprised to haul in something he hadn't caught before in 40 years of fishing—a Mediterranean anchovy. "The water has been unusually clear, and we noticed the fish in good numbers in the shade below the...

Why Some Ice Cream Bars Don't Melt

They've got too much gum and syrup

(Newser) - Don’t you hate it when you get distracted after opening an ice cream sandwich and it melts? On the flip side, don’t you hate it when it … doesn’t melt? An Ohio mom tells Cincinnati's WCPO that she got a little alarmed upon discovering that her...

'Fantastic' Find Suggests All Dinos Had Feathers

Siberian fossils 'completely changed our vision of dinosaurs': researcher

(Newser) - Dinosaurs were scaly old things, right? Not so much, apparently. A Science study of 150-million-year-old fossils uncovered in Siberia is playing a big role in flipping that perception on its head, suggesting that nearly all dinosaurs actually sprouted feathers. At least five species of feathered dinosaurs have turned up in...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a study that finds blacks seem to age faster than whites

(Newser) - Jealous dogs and elephants with prodigious senses of smell make the list:
  • Dogs Get Jealous Like Us : Dog owners can tell you Fido gets jealous, but is it the same thing that humans feel? New research on puppies, similar to previous research on babies, suggests it is. Humans, say the
...

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