discoveries

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

Stories 61 - 80 | << Prev   Next >>

Poet's Long-Lost Body Found in Notre Dame Dig

Joachim Du Bellay died in 1560 but his coffin wasn't found in 1758 excavation

(Newser) - Archaeological digs after the fire that devastated Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019 cracked what the French media calls a centuries-old "cold case." The French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research—INRAP—revealed Tuesday that researchers believe they have found the body of Joachim Du Bellay, a Renaissance poet...

Research Debunks an Easter Island Myth
Research Rejects Popular
Idea About Easter Island
new study
Sep 16, 2024 12:58 PM CDT

Research Rejects Popular Idea About Easter Island

Inhabitants didn't trigger their own ecologically driven collapse, study suggests

(Newser) - A new study puts what a researcher calls the "final nail in the coffin" regarding a longstanding narrative about Rapa Nui, aka Easter Island. Researchers who examined the preserved DNA of ancient islanders found no evidence that the population suffered a sudden and steep decline, reports CNN . That runs...

Stone Age Grave Used for Centuries Held Mostly Males
Stone Age Mass Grave
Gives Up Some of Its Secrets
new study
Sep 11, 2024 4:05 PM CDT

Stone Age Mass Grave Gives Up Some of Its Secrets

It contained mostly male remains

(Newser) - A Stone Age mass grave has given up some of its secrets thanks to DNA. A team of French archaeologists and paleo-geneticists analyzed the genomes of 37 of the 75 individuals that had been exhumed from the burial site at Aven de la Boucle in the Languedoc region. Radiocarbon dating...

Steamship Sunk by 'Small Hole' Found 168 Years Later

Le Lyonnais went down off the Massachusetts coast in 1856, claiming 116 lives

(Newser) - There are echoes of the Titanic in the story of Le Lyonnais' demise. The English-built steamship designed to carry people and mail across the Atlantic was heading from America to Europe on its first return voyage on Nov. 2, 1856, when it collided with a sailing vessel. The ship suffered...

Battle of Waterloo Dig Turns Up 15 Limbs

Along with the remains of horses

(Newser) - At least 20,000 men lost their lives in the battle of Waterloo—and a handful of newly uncovered limbs belonging to a few of them is exposing the "carnage and horror" of the 1815 battle, reports the Guardian . The Duke of Wellington led the defeat of Napoleon, and...

This Slippery Eel Can Escape Predator&#39;s Stomach in a Minute
This Eel Can Pull Off
an 'Astonishing' Houdini
NEW STUDY
Sep 10, 2024 1:28 PM CDT

This Eel Can Pull Off an 'Astonishing' Houdini

Japanese eels can escape from a predator's stomach in less than a minute, researchers say

(Newser) - That eels are slippery is no surprise, but that they can literally slip out of a predator's stomach is "truly astonishing," according to researchers, who've recorded footage of the first-of-its-kind behavior, allowing for escape in less than a minute. "It sounds like the plot of...

New Species of Tarantula Is Found in Arizona

Aphonopelma jacobii is the 30th found in the US

(Newser) - Introducing Aphonopelma jacobii, a new species of tarantula discovered in the mountains of southeastern Arizona. A news release at EurekAlert has a photo of the creature, which has "fiery red hairs on its abdomen" and is the 30th species ever found in the US. Researchers are happy with the...

Scientists Were Tracking a Shark. Then the Data Got Weird
Scientists Were Tracking
a Shark. Then It Got Eaten
in case you missed it
Sep 8, 2024 3:30 PM CDT

Scientists Were Tracking a Shark. Then It Got Eaten

They say they have first evidence of predator eating a porbeagle shark

(Newser) - Researchers captured and tagged a pregnant porbeagle shark near Cape Cod in October 2020. The 7-foot shark had two trackers attached: one was a geolocator; the other was a pop-off satellite archival tag (PSAT) that relayed info about water temperature and depth. As the scientists write in a paper published...

Food Dye Used in Doritos Offers a &#39;Jaw-Dropping&#39; Perk
Food Dye Used in Doritos
Offers a 'Jaw-Dropping' Perk
in case you missed it
Sep 8, 2024 11:30 AM CDT

Food Dye Used in Doritos Offers a 'Jaw-Dropping' Perk

Tartrazine, aka 'Yellow No. 5,' creates see-through skin on mice to help scientists peer inside their bodies

(Newser) - To many consumers, "Yellow No. 5" is best known as the food dye that adds an orange-yellow tinge to snacks and drinks like Doritos, Gatorade, and M&Ms. To a team from Stanford, however, tartrazine, the chemical found in that dye, recently served as a window into living creatures'...

Want to Save Babies? Protect Bats
In Bat Die-Off, Human
Infants Also Paid the Price
NEW STUDY
Sep 7, 2024 8:00 AM CDT

In Bat Die-Off, Human Infants Also Paid the Price

New research shows that when bats died of fungal disease, infants also died, possibly due to pesticide

(Newser) - When a deadly fungal disease from Europe spread to bats in the United States, killing off colonies of the creatures, one scientist wanted to see what such a bat die-off would mean in other ways. What the University of Chicago's Eyal Frank found: that in counties where infected bats...

Rembrandt Discovered in Maine Attic Sells for $1.4M

A European collector now owns 17th-century 'Portrait of a Girl,' found at Camden estate

(Newser) - You never know what you'll find hidden in a Maine attic: lobster traps, weathered Stephen King novels, perhaps a long-lost Rembrandt. The latter is what turned up in an estate in Camden, and it's now in the hands of a European collector, who scooped it up at auction...

Three Glass Beads Change Thinking on Moon's Volcanoes

Scientists say they were still erupting far more recently than thought

(Newser) - Volcanoes were still erupting on the moon when dinosaurs roamed Earth, new research suggests. The evidence: three tiny glass beads plucked from the surface of the moon and brought to Earth in 2020 by a Chinese spacecraft, per the AP . Their chemical makeup indicates that there were active lunar volcanoes...

Ozempic May &#39;Slow Down the Aging Process&#39;
Ozempic May 'Slow Down
the Aging Process'
NEW STUDY
Sep 3, 2024 12:39 PM CDT

Ozempic May 'Slow Down the Aging Process'

Studies suggest drug reduces risk of death from all causes, as well as inflammation

(Newser) - Semaglutide, the active ingredient of Ozempic and Wegovy, has been painted as a miracle weight-loss drug, with evidence suggesting it also reduces risk of death and serious illness in people with diabetes and kidney disease. Now, a series of studies indicate semaglutide might do more than that. The drug "...

Your Heart May Thank You for Paying Back Your 'Sleep Debt'

Research finds catching up on lost sleep on weekends may lower risk of heart disease

(Newser) - Past research has suggested that sleeping late over the weekend can't make up for the sleep you may have lost during the week (i.e., your "sleep debt"), but a new study out of China puts forth at least one possible benefit of that extra shut-eye, which...

Identical Dinosaur Tracks Found a World Apart
Identical Dinosaur Tracks
Found a World Apart
new study
Aug 30, 2024 5:10 PM CDT

Identical Dinosaur Tracks Found a World Apart

Scientists say discovery shows they walked what is now Africa and South America before continents split

(Newser) - Researchers studying hundreds of dinosaur tracks in Africa and South America noticed an odd thing—the tracks are virtually identical despite being roughly 3,700 miles apart and separated by an ocean, reports NPR . But this isn't a case of cousin dinosaurs roaming different parts of the world 120...

We&#39;re Not the Only Primates to Use Names
These Monkeys Have
Names for Each Other
NEW STUDY
Aug 30, 2024 12:04 PM CDT

These Monkeys Have Names for Each Other

Marmosets are the only other non-human primates found to use names, researchers say

(Newser) - Humans aren't the only primates who call each other by name, according to a new study. Researchers say marmosets—a chatty, highly social monkey species that lives in South American rainforests—use specific calls to address specific individuals, behavior only previously observed in humans, bottlenose dolphins, and African elephants...

It&#39;s OK, You Can Safely Donate a Kidney
It's OK, You Can
Safely Donate a Kidney
NEW STUDY
Aug 28, 2024 12:05 PM CDT

It's OK, You Can Safely Donate a Kidney

'The last decade has become a lot more safe in the operating room for living donors,' says study co-author

(Newser) - People who volunteer to donate a kidney face an even lower risk of death than doctors have long thought, researchers reported Wednesday. The study tracked 30 years of living kidney donation and found that by 2022, fewer than 1 in every 10,000 donors died within three months of the...

Couples May Want to Deploy a 5-Second Rule
Time for Couples to
Deploy a 5-Second Rule
new study
Aug 24, 2024 5:15 PM CDT

Time for Couples to Deploy a 5-Second Rule

Study suggests taking a break that short can prevent arguments from escalating

(Newser) - Couples who find themselves in an argument might want to consider a simple tool to keep things from escalating out of control: a five-second pause. A new study by psychology researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland found that a break of even that short duration helped people...

Jamestown DNA Reveals a Family Secret
Jamestown DNA Reveals
a Family Secret
new study
Aug 24, 2024 9:00 AM CDT

Jamestown DNA Reveals a Family Secret

Researchers discover what would have been a scandalous birth at the time

(Newser) - Researchers studying the DNA of a man buried at the colony of Jamestown 400 years ago have uncovered a secret in his prominent family—he was born "illegitimate," which would have been scandalous in his day, per a release at Phys.org . What's more, his family appears...

Rover Finds Evidence That Magma Covered Moon

Indian mission's findings support Lunar Magma Ocean theory

(Newser) - A rover investigating a previously unexplored area on the moon has found more evidence to support the theory that the lunar surface was once covered with an ocean of magma. After India's Chandrayaan-3 mission brought the Vikram lander to the moon's south pole a year ago, the Pragyaan...

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