discoveries

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5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a study suggesting that we peak at age 24

(Newser) - The most Earth-like planet discovered yet, and a bizarre finding in the insect world make the list:
  • Astronomers Find Earth's 'Cousin' : Other "Earth-like" planets have been discovered before, but a new one is generating excitement in astronomy circles because of how very Earth-like it actually is. Introducing
...

Effects of Bullying Last Into Middle Age

Researchers say bullied kids more likely to be depressed adults

(Newser) - It's not a revelation that bullying takes a toll—mental, physical, or both—on kids who are victims. But a major new British study suggests that the ill effects are still evident right through age 50, reports Reuters . Middle-aged adults who were bullied as kids tend to be in...

Under Greenland's Ice: Soil Older Than Mankind

Land mass once home to forests

(Newser) - The soil under the highest point of the Greenland Ice Sheet, scientists have learned, is 2.7 million years old, LiveScience reports. In other words, the silt buried under thousands of feet of ice "has been preserved from beyond the dawn of humankind," says Paul Bierman, who determined...

Team Clones Stem Cells From 75-Year-Old's Skin

Technique could be used to produce tissue perfectly suited to patients

(Newser) - A team of researchers has made a sure-to-be controversial breakthrough in both stem cell and cloning research, creating stem cells from two adults using cloning techniques. The researchers took DNA from skin cells from two men, aged 35 and 75, and injected it into unfertilized eggs whose DNA had been...

Wild Discovery: Insects With Female Penises

Tiny creatures have sex for 40 to 70 hours

(Newser) - For the first time, scientists have discovered animals whose genitalia seem to be swapped: The female has a penis-like structure while the male has an organ akin to a vagina, LiveScience reports. The animals in question are four species of flea-sized insects from the genus Neotrogla, found in Brazilian caves....

Astronomers Find Earth's 'Cousin'

Kepler-186f is called the best bet yet to hold alien life

(Newser) - Other "Earth-like" planets have been discovered before, but a new one is generating a lot of excitement in astronomy circles because of how very Earth-like it actually is. Introducing Kepler-186f, which is maybe 10% bigger than our planet and thought to be in the not-too-hot and not-too-cold range that...

Study: Cherokee's Struggles Visible in Their Skulls

Researchers review changes in skulls' measurements during stressful times

(Newser) - It turns out the Trail of Tears didn't just affect the Cherokee people's spirits. A new study by North Carolina State University and University of Tennessee researchers has found that their struggles actually reshaped their skulls. The research was reliant on research done long before the present day,...

Happy Couples Sleep Very, Very Close Together
Happy Couples Sleep Very, Very Close Together
study says
Apr 16, 2014 2:05 PM CDT

Happy Couples Sleep Very, Very Close Together

As in, less than an inch apart: study

(Newser) - It may be better for your health to sleep in a separate bed than your partner—but a new study finds that the happiest couples are those who sleep close together. Very close together, as in less than an inch apart. A survey of 1,000 people found that those...

Study: Men Get Grumpy at Age 70

After reporting that things started improving around 50

(Newser) - If you're a male who's approaching 50, good news: A recent study found that 80% of the 1,315 men surveyed found that life improved around 50, as opposed to the 20% who said life didn't get easier until retirement age. But the good times apparently have...

Casual Pot Use Changes Young Brains
 Casual Pot Use 
 Changes Young Brains 
STUDY SAYS
Apr 16, 2014 4:04 AM CDT

Casual Pot Use Changes Young Brains

Abnormalities seen in 'parts you don't want to mess with'

(Newser) - Even casual use of marijuana could be messing up young people's brains at a time of life when they need to make major decisions, a new study finds. Researchers say that people aged 18 to 25 who used marijuana at least once a week were found to have abnormalities...

Many Vegetative People Are Actually Conscious

Scans detect which patients have hope of recovery

(Newser) - Many patients labeled vegetative actually have some degree of consciousness and a good chance of improving with treatment, a new study finds. Researchers tracked more than 100 patients with severe brain injuries for a year and discovered that PET scans were 74% accurate in predicting which patients would show signs...

Our Brutal Winter 2014? Thank Asia's Smog

Study says air pollution in China makes storms more intense in US

(Newser) - Next time there's a story about how horrifically bad the smog is in China or India, don't pity only the residents of Beijing or New Delhi. A new study suggests that air pollution in Asia results in more erratic, intense winter storms over North America, reports CNN . The...

Study: We Peak at Age 24
 Study: We Peak at Age 24 
Apr 15, 2014 8:17 AM CDT

Study: We Peak at Age 24

In terms of our cognitive motor performance

(Newser) - If you're over the age of 24, brace yourself before reading on: Simon Fraser University researchers have some gloomy news for you. As the Canadian school's press release puts it, "Study says we're over the hill at 24." The statement spins from a new study...

Scientists: We Can Make Ethanol Without Corn



 Scientists: We Can 
 Make Ethanol 
 Without Corn 
in case you missed it
Apr 13, 2014 7:00 PM CDT

Scientists: We Can Make Ethanol Without Corn

New process should be significantly more efficient, too

(Newser) - Could ethanol someday essentially be produced out of thin air? A group of scientists has published research in Nature detailing a new method of making ethanol out of carbon monoxide gas, instead of corn or sugarcane, Reuters reports. Researchers saturated water with the gas, then zapped it with a novel...

Scientist: Gold Crystal &#39;Too Big to Be Real&#39; Is Real
Scientist: Gold Crystal
'Too Big to Be Real' Is Real
in case you missed it
Apr 12, 2014 7:00 PM CDT

Scientist: Gold Crystal 'Too Big to Be Real' Is Real

217.78-gram piece verified at Los Alamos lab

(Newser) - It's a single gold crystal that "seemed almost too perfect and too big to be real," per a press release about it. Roughly the size of a golf ball, it was found in a Venezuela river decades ago, reports KRQE , and worth an estimated $1.5 million—...

Message in Bottle Finds Way Home 101 Years Later
Message in Bottle Finds
Way Home 101 Years Later
in case you missed it
Apr 12, 2014 6:54 AM CDT

Message in Bottle Finds Way Home 101 Years Later

But not quite into the hands of Richard Platz

(Newser) - At age 20, Richard Platz tossed a brown bottle into the Baltic Sea. Some 101 years later, it has found its way home, or as close to home as it can get. A German fisherman whose previous wild finds include bombs, torpedoes, and a corpse hauled the bottle out of...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including an explanation for why you're terrible at swatting fruit flies

(Newser) - An intriguing discovery about a reference to a wife of Jesus and a potentially huge breakthrough about ethanol are on the list:
  • Papyrus Mentioning Jesus' Wife Not a Fake, But ... : Two years ago, a Harvard professor debuted an ancient papyrus now known as the "Gospel of Jesus' Wife" at
...

Scientists: Just 5 Mutations and Bird Flu Goes Airborne

But it's not known if those mutations could happen outside a lab

(Newser) - H5N1 has killed 60% of the 650 humans it's known to have infected in nearly two decades, making it an incredibly deadly but difficult to transmit virus. A new study tries to answer the question of how little it would take to make bird flu easily spreadable. The conclusion:...

Study Sinks One Titanic Iceberg Theory

1912 wasn't a year packed with huge crop of icebergs

(Newser) - The year the Titanic sank wasn't one with "an enormously large crop of icebergs" as has long been believed, according to new research. Researchers who analyzed Coast Guard data going back to 1900 found that 1912 had a relatively large but by no means exceptional number of icebergs...

Fruit Flies Move Like Fighter Jets
 Fruit Flies Move 
 Like Fighter Jets 
STUDY SAYS
Apr 11, 2014 1:00 AM CDT

Fruit Flies Move Like Fighter Jets

Speed of evasive turns amazes researchers

(Newser) - Swatting a fruit fly is as tricky as trying to catch a tiny fighter jet with an expert pilot at the controls, researchers say. High-speed cameras captured the insects avoiding threats by executing supercharged, banked turns much like fighter planes, reports the Los Angeles Times . The flies beat their wings...

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