discoveries

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

Stories 4301 - 4320 | << Prev   Next >>

Doctors Find 44-Year-Old Fetus in Woman, 84

Brazilian woman says she became pregnant decades ago

(Newser) - In a story as bizarre as it is deja vu-ish , a 44-year-old fetus has been found in an 84-year-old Brazilian woman. The Daily Mail reports by way of G1 that the discovery came last Friday, when the woman's intense stomach pains landed her in a hospital in Tocantins state...

Infant's DNA Pinpoints Origins of First Americans

The Clovis people descended from Asians, not Europeans

(Newser) - The DNA from a single infant is shining a light on the true origins of the first Americans. The headline-generating research relies on the DNA of a child buried roughly 12,600 years ago, and establishes that the first North Americans were born to humans who came to the New...

Scientists: Raindrops Aren't Shaped Like Tears at All

They actually resemble hamburger bun tops

(Newser) - It turns out you've been drawing raindrops incorrectly your entire life. NASA scientists have determined that they don't actually resemble tears. They look more like hamburger bun tops: rounded above, flat on the bottom. As a video made by NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement explains, a raindrop begins...

New Fossil Find One of History's Greatest

3K fossils, 55 species found in Canada's Kootenay National Park

(Newser) - Researchers in Canada have made an "extraordinary" find: a vast collection of fossils that offer an in-depth look at prehistoric life. The site in Kootenay National Park is being compared to what experts call one of history's greatest fossil finds, a 1909 discovery about 26 miles away in...

Study: Crocodiles Able to Climb Trees

Which is just freaky

(Newser) - As far as discoveries go, this is a somewhat terrifying one, assuming one has a healthy respect for crocodiles on the ground: They can climb and perch in trees. And they can really climb, with researchers spotting them more than a dozen feet from the ground. While anecdotal reports have...

Mammograms Don&#39;t Reduce Cancer Deaths
 Mammograms Don't 
 Reduce Cancer Deaths 
STUDY SAYS
Feb 12, 2014 5:04 AM CST

Mammograms Don't Reduce Cancer Deaths

Researchers warn of 'overdiagnosis'

(Newser) - A wide-ranging, long-term study has cast doubt on the value of annual breast X-rays—and sparked fierce debate in the medical world. The study of 90,000 Canadian women over 25 years suggests annual mammograms could be useless or possibly worse than useless: the death rate from breast cancer and...

Scientists: Here's Why Climate Change 'Paused'

High winds are forcing heat underwater—at least for now

(Newser) - Global-warming skeptics, en garde: A new study says that the recent pause in global warming is caused by strong trade winds in the Pacific Ocean that will eventually subside, the Guardian reports. According to the study , sharply higher winds in the central and eastern parts of the Pacific have pushed...

Astronomers Spot Oldest Star Yet

13.6B-year-old star is in our galaxy

(Newser) - At 13.6 billion years old, a star spotted by Australian astronomers is the oldest yet found, they say. It's about 6,000 light years away from our planet—which is fairly close, the Wall Street Journal reports, and it's in our Milky Way galaxy. How do the...

Did a Flower Shortage Kill the Woolly Mammoth?

Or did a mammoth shortage kill the flowers?

(Newser) - Scary as they might have looked, woolly mammoths had a decidedly non-threatening diet: They feasted on small flowers, according to a new theory. And the decline of these once-abundant plants, called forbs, may explain the disappearance of the mammoths themselves, NPR reports. Experts had believed woolly mammoths ate grass, but...

Her Nightmares Dwell on Conflict, His on Calamity
Study: Men, Women Have Very Different Nightmares
in case you missed it
Feb 8, 2014 7:08 AM CST

Study: Men, Women Have Very Different Nightmares

But they're not always fear-filled: study

(Newser) - Men and women needn't be awake to experience the world differently, a study suggests: Even our bad dreams are quite different. A study of the dream journals of 572 people found that women's disturbing dreams tend to focus on social conflicts—friendships and romances gone south, for instance....

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including an archaeological milestone in Miami

(Newser) - Evidence of our forebears found in modern-day Miami and Britain highlight the list:
  • Ancient Village Found ... in Downtown Miami : Archeologists say they have unearthed what is probably one of the most important prehistoric sites in America—on land in downtown Miami earmarked for a huge entertainment complex.
  • Historic Find in
...

Historic Find in Europe: Human Footprints 800K Years Old

Tracks in Britain are the oldest found outside Africa

(Newser) - Walking along a beach in Norfolk, England, last May, scientists spotted indents at low tide that had been washed clear of sand by a recent storm. They thought the marks might be animal prints, but on closer inspection discovered something much cooler: nearly million-year-old human footprints—the oldest ones ever...

Could a Diuretic Reverse Autism in Some Cases?
Could a Diuretic Reverse Autism in Some Cases?
new study
Feb 7, 2014 12:15 PM CST

Could a Diuretic Reverse Autism in Some Cases?

Results of rodent tests released

(Newser) - French researchers have been testing a diuretic on kids with autism, and in a study released yesterday in Science, they explain why they think the drug, a version of bumetanide they have patented, has so much promise: because of their experiments with mice. As USA Today explains, a chemical switch...

Camel Bones Challenge the Bible's Timeline

Study: It was written much later than the events it describes

(Newser) - A set of bones—and not human ones, at that—is "challenging the Bible's historicity," say two Tel-Aviv University researchers. Dr. Erez Ben-Yosef and Dr. Lidar Sapir-Hen have carbon-dated the oldest known domesticated camel bones found in the southern Levant, where Israel sits, and what they discovered...

In Indian Ocean's Oldest Shipwreck, a Clue to Rome?

Archaeologists hope to learn more about a Rome-to-Asia trade route

(Newser) - A 2,000-year-old shipwreck will soon slumber silently no more: This month, archaeologists are set to scuba-dive 110 feet down into the Indian Ocean to explore what is that ocean's oldest known shipwreck. It sits off Sri Lanka's southeast coast, and its story has only begun to be...

You Only Have 4 Emotions
 You Have Only 
 4 Emotions 
STUDY SAYS
Feb 5, 2014 10:39 AM CST

You Have Only 4 Emotions

Subtler distinctions more social than biological

(Newser) - Scientists have traditionally held that people have six basic emotions: happy, sad, angry, surprised, afraid, and disgusted. But a new study reduces that number to just four by combining "angry" with "disgusted" and "surprised" with "afraid." Those pairings share the same biological roots, the Glasgow...

Pompeii-Like Eruption Froze Ancient Animals in Place

Researchers come up with explanation for 125M-year-old fossil bed in China

(Newser) - Scientists have long been captivated by the fossil beds of China's Liaoning province, where an incredibly diverse and well-preserved collection of animals was fossilized about 125 million years ago in a mysterious mass death. Now, they think they finally have an explanation for the ecosystem that became known as...

Scientists Have Likely Found Charlemagne's Skeleton

Researchers have been studying bones for 26 years

(Newser) - After 26 years of research, scientists finally announced last week that the bones interred at Charlemagne's supposed resting place at Aachen Cathedral probably do belong to the emperor, The Local reports. The German researchers say the 94 bones and bone fragments are from a tall, thin, older man, and...

Ancient Village Found ... in Downtown Miami

Developer wants to build on prehistoric site

(Newser) - Archeologists say they have unearthed what is probably one of the most important prehistoric sites in America—on land in downtown Miami earmarked for a huge entertainment complex. The researchers confirm that after months of work they have found evidence of an extensive Tequesta Indian village dating back up to...

4,600-Year-Old 'Mystery' Pyramid Excavated

Fallen structure may reveal ancient power shift in Egypt

(Newser) - Archaeologists have excavated a 4,600-year-old pyramid in southern Egypt that was hidden under a pile of sand, waste, and its own remains, and come to a simple conclusion: They don't know what it's for. They do know the Edfu pyramid once stood 43 feet high and was...

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