discoveries

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

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5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including an intriguing finding about older moms

(Newser) - An insight into our human ancestors from an unexpected source and a common trait among mammals make the list:
  • Oldest Human Poop Discovered : Neanderthals who squatted by a campfire in Spain around 50,000 years ago left something that has got today's scientists very excited. What is believed to
...

New Species Looks Like Mouse, Is More Similar to Elephant

One-ounce shrew has some surprising DNA cousins

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered a new species that, though it looks a lot like a mouse, is actually a close genetic relative of an elephant. The mammal, which was found in a remote western African desert, is a type of elephant shrew or "round-eared sengi." Dubbed the Macroscelides micus,...

Scientists Unravel Mystery of Electric Fish's Jolt

6-foot electric eel is 6-inch fish attached to a 5.5-foot cattle prod

(Newser) - For the first time, scientists have assembled the complete genome of an electric fish—the potent South American electric eel—and in doing so have identified something much larger: Exactly how this fish, along with electric fish from other families, evolved to create their jolt-delivering organ. The findings, out of...

10% of US Beaches Teeming With Bacteria

Stormwater runoff major culprit in unsafe beaches

(Newser) - They may look pristine, but one in 10 US beaches is ripe with enough bacteria to make you sick. New research shows 10% of coastal and lakefront beaches fail to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's water-safety standards and swimmers could develop a stomach bug, conjunctivitis, pink eye, or even...

Study: Mammals Big, Small Pee in About 21 Seconds

Above 6.5 pounds, urination duration doesn't scale with size

(Newser) - Ever wonder why it doesn't take elephants an hour to pee? Well someone did. After studying mammals of all walks of life at Zoo Atlanta, scientists discovered that, aside from those that weigh 6.5 pounds or less, it takes the rest of us mammals on average 21 seconds...

Oldest Human Poop Discovered

Neanderthal latrine reveals omnivorous diet

(Newser) - Neanderthals who squatted by a campfire in Spain around 50,000 years ago left something that has got today's scientists very excited. What is believed to be the oldest human poop ever discovered has yielded important information about the Neanderthal diet, Discovery reports. The leavings show that the Neanderthals...

Ancient Burial Site Reveals 4K-Year-Old Chariots

Also inside: gold artifacts, potential human sacrifices

(Newser) - A dig at a 4,000-year-old burial site in the country of Georgia has turned up a pair of wooden chariots along with human remains, possibly from sacrifices, LiveScience reports. The 39-foot-high Early Bronze Age mound is known as a kurgan and would have been the resting place of a...

Moms Who Give Birth at Older Age Live Longer
Moms Who Give Birth at Older Age Live Longer
study says
Jun 25, 2014 2:07 PM CDT

Moms Who Give Birth at Older Age Live Longer

Study: Those who conceive naturally after 33 more likely to live into 90s

(Newser) - Women who are able to get pregnant naturally and give birth in their mid-30s and after tend to live longer than other women, a new study suggests. Specifically, Boston researchers found that women who gave birth after age 33 were twice as likely to live to 95 than women who...

Explorer: I Found La Salle's Ship in Lake Michigan

Hopes to get permission to excavate, prove it's 17th-century vessel

(Newser) - A 17th-century ship called the Griffin has long eluded shipwreck hunters, but one especially persistent hunter thinks he's finally found the vessel that belonged to French explorer La Salle. Steve Libert tells AP that he is "99.9% sure" that he and his team have spotted the ship,...

Schizophrenia, Pot Smoking Genetically Linked

Predisposition to illness may boost odds of drug use

(Newser) - The exact nature of the relationship between schizophrenia and cannabis still isn't clear to scientists, but a new study offers additional clues. Researchers studied genetic data on 2,082 people, about half of whom had used cannabis, Reuters reports; they focused on the number of schizophrenia-linked genes in the...

Mysterious Mounds Attributed to New Source

Theory about soil, erosion may not be sexy, but it's convincing

(Newser) - The mystery of the mounds lives on. A mere six months after researchers said computer modeling proved pocket gophers , over the course of several hundred years of scurrying and burrowing, formed the bizarre-patterned earthen "Mima mounds" in Washington state, a new team of researchers claims that plants are in...

'Magic Island' Spotted on Saturn Moon

Mysterious bright spot may be geological activity on Titan

(Newser) - Astronomers are feeling giddy about a flash of light on a very odd moon, phys.org reports. Radar images show that a bright object appeared briefly on Saturn's moon Titan, possible proof of geological activity on a lunar surface that boasts wind, rain, lakes, and seas (though liquid methane...

Here's How Stress Causes Heart Attacks

It turns out your body thinks you're sick or wounded

(Newser) - It's common knowledge that stress can lead to a heart attack, but scientists have never actually known how—until now. It turns out that when you're stressed, your body starts overproducing white blood cells, or leukocytes, as if you had a wound or infection, researchers from the Harvard...

Arthritis Drug Makes Hairless Man Very Hairy
Arthritis Drug Makes
Hairless Man Very Hairy
in case you missed it
Jun 22, 2014 7:00 PM CDT

Arthritis Drug Makes Hairless Man Very Hairy

25-year-old grew full head of hair, plus everything from eyebrows to armpit hair

(Newser) - It turns out an FDA-approved rheumatoid arthritis drug might just cure baldness—at least the form caused by a rare immune disease. During an eight-month trial of the drug, a 25-year-old man whose body was nearly hairless grew, well, a lot of it, including plenty atop his head, armpit hair,...

&#39;End of the World&#39; Plague Remains Found in Egypt

 'End of the World' 
 Plague Victims 
 Found in Egypt 
in case you missed it
Jun 21, 2014 3:47 PM CDT

'End of the World' Plague Victims Found in Egypt

Likely measles or smallpox, it struck one writer as apocalyptic

(Newser) - Saint Cyprian described it in the third century AD as a plague that signaled the end of the world—and archaeologists have now uncovered its remnants in Egypt. An Italian team has published the results of its 15 years of research in ancient Thebes (today, Luxor), where a funerary complex...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

How do self-filling cavities sound?

(Newser) - A unique trait about spiders that seems hard to fathom and a geologic milestone make the list this week:
  • Spiders Able to Catch, Devour Fish : Spiders are known for hunting insects, of course. But fish? Not only is the answer yes, the spiders are rather good at it. So say
...

Skulls From 'Pit of Bones' May Hold Evolution Clues

Neanderthals may have developed their distinctive jaws before their brains got big

(Newser) - Since 1984, scientists have been carefully removing, assembling, and analyzing thousands of bone fragments from the aptly-named "Pit of Bones" cave in Spain, home to the largest collection of ancient human fossils ever found. Now, they say their analysis of 17 skulls thought to be some 430,000 years...

20 Never-Seen Poems of Pablo Neruda Discovered

They were found in boxes, said to be of 'extraordinary quality'

(Newser) - Someone combing through old boxes belonging to Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda made an amazing discovery: 20 unpublished poems from his prime years of productivity, reports the Guardian . His publisher says they are of "extraordinary quality," and one academic says they are full of "the imaginative power, the...

Spiders Able to Catch, Devour Fish
 Spiders Able to 
 Catch, Devour Fish 
new study
Jun 19, 2014 6:03 AM CDT

Spiders Able to Catch, Devour Fish

Many species of spiders spanning 6 continents hunt, feast on fish

(Newser) - If you aren't already arachnophobic, this might be enough to turn you: Spiders don't just hunt insects; they also like to fish, and are apparently rather good at it. So say scientists who have observed at least 18 species of spiders on every continent but Antarctica hunting and...

Bears Join List of Animals Who Perform Oral Sex

Two male brown bears in captivity in Croatia regularly engage in fellatio

(Newser) - Add one more creature to the list of animals known to engage in oral sex: A pair of male brown bears living in captivity in a sanctuary in Croatia have been observed engaging in fellatio regularly over the six years they were studied, report researchers in the journal Zoo Biology...

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