science

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Signs Found of Mysterious Neanderthal 'Sister Species'

Evidence lives on in the DNA of modern-day Africans: scientists

(Newser) - Newly discovered bits of "foreign DNA" in modern Africans indicate that a mysterious "sister species" may have walked the earth with Neanderthals and humans, according to scientists. The DNA doesn't resemble DNA from any modern-day humans, nor from Neanderthals, whose DNA sometimes shows up in modern-day Europeans....

America's New Jobless: Glut of Science PhDs

Science jobs declining as PhDs surging

(Newser) - President Obama, like a lot of politicians and pundits, likes to say that America's future lies with science, advocating for more young people to go into research. But the truth is that the supply of PhDs has been vastly outpacing the job market for years, resulting in a glut,...

Look Out Black Widow, Here Comes Brown Widow

Less toxic rivals may be taking over in West

(Newser) - Good news: You may now be slightly less likely to find a black widow spider hiding in your shoe. Researchers discovered that the deadly arachnid is being crowded out of swaths of its native US territory by a new creepy crawler to the scene—the brown widow, reports LiveScience . The...

Singapore Scientists Invent Remarkable Toilet

It uses 90% less water and turns your, ahem, No. 2 into electricity

(Newser) - Imagine if every time you went the bathroom you did a little good for the planet. That green dream could soon be entirely possible, thanks to a new invention out of Singapore: a toilet system that transforms human droppings into electricity and fertilizer and uses 90% less water per flush...

Scientists Invent Paint-On Batteries

Spray-painted power source is half a millimeter thick

(Newser) - If you tend to associate spray paint with nefarious behavior involving graffiti, prepare to have your mind blown. Scientists have invented batteries that can be spray painted onto any surface. Researchers at Rice University demoed the new technology by coating steel, glass, and a beer mug with painted-on batteries. "...

Oldest Impact Crater Found in Greenland

Meteorite probably smashed down about 3B years ago

(Newser) - Scientists have uncovered what might be the oldest meteorite crater on Earth. Located in Greenland, it's about 62 miles wide and was likely formed 3 billion years ago when a 19-mile-wide meteorite collided with our planet, reports Space.com . Today, an impact that size likely would wipe out humans....

Ancient Relatives of Humans Ate Wood

Scientists analyzed dental tartar in fossils

(Newser) - Did our ancestors eat trees? New fossil evidence shows that a 2 million-year-old relative of humans nibbled on bark and leaves, reports BBC . Scientists analyzed the teeth of two members of the "southern ape" species, or Australopithecus sediba, and found evidence that they included wood in their diet.

Dinosaurs Were Much Skinnier: Scientists

New weight-estimation technique is shedding pounds off the ancient lizards

(Newser) - Dinosaurs were skinnier than we thought. Using advancements in scanning and computing, scientists have developed a new technique for estimating the weight and size of fossilized creatures. The more accurate method shows that the giant lizards were not nearly as chubby as paleontologists once believed, reports Discovery News via MSNBC...

World's Oldest Fish Trap Found Near Sweden

Fish-catching baskets are thought to be 9K years old

(Newser) - Marine archaeologists have discovered fishing traps they think were constructed around 9,000 years ago. "This is the world's oldest find when it comes to fishing," says one expert. The researchers found the remnants of seven wooden traps on the Baltic Sea bed off Sweden, reports the...

New Research Deepens Mystery of Earth's Core

Why are outer layers losing heat more quickly than previously thought?

(Newser) - Earth's core, located 1,800 miles below us, has always been mysterious—and new research sheds light on the fascinating processes that go on down there, while simultaneously adding to the mystery. The New York Times takes a look at new findings in a piece that also summarizes what'...

Top 10 Newly Discovered Species

Including a mushroom named for SpongeBob

(Newser) - Roughly 18,000 new species were discovered last year, and scientists at Arizona State University have compiled a list of their 10 favorites. A sample, from the Arizona Republic :

Scientists Set Record for Ultra-Fast WiFi

'T-rays' provide speeds 20 times faster

(Newser) - Japanese scientists have set a whopping record for wireless data speeds—20 times faster than typical WiFi—by using an unconventional part of the electromagnetic spectrum known as the "T-ray" band. The researchers were able to transmit data at 3 gigabytes per second. "T-ray" technology could eventually lighten...

Dalai Lama Donates $1.5M to Charity

Wins Templeton Prize for linking science and 'compassion'

(Newser) - It's a big news day for the Dalai Lama, from the dangerous to the charitable. He will today be awarded $1.5 million for his services to human spirituality, and he's giving away all of the winnings. He'll donate some $1.45 million to India's Save...

Just 32% of US 8th-Graders Proficient in Science

Assessment shows only a slight gain from 2009

(Newser) - Just 32% of US eighth-graders are proficient in science, according to the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress exam. While that is a slight gain from 2009’s 30%, teachers and policy makers are concerned with the continued low numbers, the Wall Street Journal reports. "This is deeply disappointing,...

Conservatives' Faith in Science Failing: Study

But then, they're probably skeptical of this study, too

(Newser) - Conservatives have become less likely to trust science over the past 40 years—especially if they're educated, according to a new study. The study looked at the General Social Survey, which began asking Americans how they felt about science in 1974. Back then, conservatives were the biggest believers in...

Einstein Safe: Neutrinos Do Not Break Light Speed

New experiment shows particles at identical speed with light

(Newser) - Einstein's theory apparently remains untouchable, and flabbergasted theoretical physicists can cease hyperventilating: Neutrinos do not exceed the speed of light, but they do appear to travel at the same speed as light, according to the results of a recent experiment. The new data confirm Einstein's foundational ideas and...

Bees Might Have Personalities

Some are more adventurous than others: Study

(Newser) - Bees are not merely mindless, mechanical insects with rigid behavior patterns. They may actually exhibit personalities and feelings. A new study from the University of Illinois reveals that some bees display a higher willingness to head off on adventures than others, which can be interpreted as a personality trait, reports...

Scientists Create First Full Map of Titanic Wreckage

It could shed new light on exactly what happened

(Newser) - For the first time ever, researchers have constructed a complete map of the Titanic's underwater shipwreck site. When the Titanic sank in 1912, debris was scattered across an area measuring 3 by 5 miles. To draw a detailed map of the area, scientists dispatched robots to take more than...

Einstein Wrong? Maybe Just Faulty Wiring

A simple loose cord may explain last year's controversy

(Newser) - More evidence that last year's furor over the accuracy of Albert Einstein's work got blown way out of proportion: Physicists believed they'd seen particles traveling faster than light , a phenomenon that would disprove the theory of relativity. But the controversial observations may have been the result of...

'Most Beautiful Theories' in Science Include Relativity and Theory of Evolution

 191 'Most Beautiful' 
 Theories in Science 
in case you missed it
Jan 21, 2012 7:00 AM CST

191 'Most Beautiful' Theories in Science

Relativity, theory of evolution top the list

(Newser) - Every year, the website Edge poses a big, open-ended question to leading scientists. This year's query— "What is your favorite deep, elegant or beautiful explanation?" —received 191 answers covering a wide range of ideas, with Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity and Charles Darwin's Theory of...

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