discoveries

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

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Egypt Uncovers First Royal Tomb in a Century

But tomb of King Thutmose II was flooded, raided in antiquity

(Newser) - Archaeologists have made a stunning discovery: the first royal tomb to be found in Egypt since King Tutankhamun's in 1922—though unlike Tut's tomb, this one is in rough shape. The entrance and main passage of the poorly-preserved tomb in the Wadi Gabbanat el-Qurud, southwest of the Valley...

Scientists Pinpoint Gene Tied to Human Language
Scientists Pinpoint Gene
Tied to Human Language
NEW STUDY
Feb 18, 2025 10:52 AM CST

Scientists Pinpoint Gene Tied to Human Language

Protein variant found only in humans may have helped us learn to communicate the way we do

(Newser) - Why did humans start speaking? A new study links one gene to the origins of spoken language, proposing that a protein variant found only in humans may have helped us communicate in a novel way—and what scientists learn may someday help people with speech problems. Speech over the centuries...

Turns Out, Ancient Mummies Smell Kind of Nice
Scent of Ancient Mummies
May Surprise You
new study
Feb 17, 2025 10:42 AM CST

Scent of Ancient Mummies May Surprise You

It's pleasant, not rancid, scientists report

(Newser) - Soon, visitors to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo will be able to catch a whiff of humans who died thousands of years ago. A new study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society suggests they might be pleasantly surprised. Researchers extracted scents from inside the sarcophagi of nine mummies...

Creepy Fish Emerges From the Deep: 'I Thought It Was AI'
Rare Sighting of This 'Seadevil'
Is a 'Dream Come True'
in case you missed it
Feb 16, 2025 7:00 AM CST

Rare Sighting of This 'Seadevil' Is a 'Dream Come True'

Humpback anglerfish is spotted in broad daylight, near ocean's surface, for what may be first time

(Newser) - A deep-sea creature only recorded alive on one other occasion has been seen for what's believed to be the first time in broad daylight. Per National Geographic , researchers from the Condrik Tenerife NGO working near the Canary Islands off the coast of Tenerife caught a glimpse on Jan. 26...

Undersea Telescope Detects Extremely Unusual Particle

'We've just opened a completely new window'

(Newser) - The Kilometer Cube Neutrino Telescope—KM3NeT—is still under construction deep in the Mediterranean Sea but it has already made a find that has amazed scientists. In a study published in the journal Nature , researchers say they detected a neutrino vastly more powerful than any particle they had seen before....

The Best Way to Boil an Egg Is ... Tedious
The Best Way to Boil
an Egg Is ... Tedious
NEW STUDY
Feb 11, 2025 12:30 PM CST

The Best Way to Boil an Egg Is ... Tedious

Periodic cooking over half an hour is ideal, researchers say

(Newser) - Boiling an exceptional egg takes time. Thirty-two minutes to be exact. But it's not as easy as dropping the egg in water and walking away, according to a new study published Thursday in Communications Engineering . The perfect egg is a tedious business, according to researchers, who set about finding...

Earth's Inner Core Has Deformed
Earth's Inner Core
Has Deformed
NEW STUDY
Feb 11, 2025 7:11 AM CST

Earth's Inner Core Has Deformed

Seismic waves reveal changes to inner core's surface, likely caused by outer core's 'pushing'

(Newser) - Scientists have for some time suspected climate change is affecting Earth's beating heart . Now, a study offers specifics on changes at the planet's unreachable inner core. Building on 2024 research that described how the solid ball of iron and nickel at the center of the Earth, about 70%...

Whale Songs Follow a Basic Rule of Language
Whales,
Humans
Follow the
Same 'Law'
new study
Feb 10, 2025 9:14 AM CST

Whales, Humans Follow the Same 'Law'

That would be Zipf's law, a fundamental pattern of language

(Newser) - Researchers have discovered that humpback whales and humans have something fundamental in common: Their songs, like our language, follow the same statistical pattern, reports the Smithsonian Magazine . Details:
  • The law: All human languages adhere to a principle known as Zipf's law. Meaning, "the most frequent word in a
...

Scientists Solve Perplexing Question About Sea Turtles

Where they went between hatching and returning to coastlines was unclear

(Newser) - Using satellite trackers, scientists have discovered the whereabouts of young sea turtles during a key part of their lives. For decades, scientists have wondered about what happens during the so-called lost years between when tiny hatchlings leave the beach and when they return to coastlines nearly grown—a span of...

A Toilet Helps Solve a Bayeux Tapestry Mystery

Archaeologists believe they have determined where Earl Harold's residence stood

(Newser) - Even if you can't recall the particulars of the story it tells, you're likely familiar with the Bayeux Tapestry, which recounts the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. That's when William, Duke of Normandy, challenged Harold Godwinson, England's last Anglo-Saxon King, for the throne—and won....

A 'Historic Breakthrough' With Charred Vesuvius Scrolls

Scholars celebrate first image of the inside of a burnt papyrus scroll from Herculaneum, Italy

(Newser) - After two students correctly identified the ancient Greek word for "purple" in a papyrus scroll charred by the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, they teamed up with a third student to identify about 5% of the philosophical text, earning the Vesuvius Challenge's $700,000 grand prize last year....

Are We All Aliens? Asteroid Samples Yield Ingredients of Life

Bennu samples also indicate it was part of an ancient water world

(Newser) - Asteroid samples fetched by NASA hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world, scientists reported Wednesday. The findings provide the strongest evidence yet that asteroids may have planted the seeds of life on Earth and that these ingredients were...

Significant Find in Denmark: Fossilized Clump of Fish Vomit

It's 66M years old

(Newser) - Items that are determined to be "objects of exceptional natural history value" by the Danekræ committee of Denmark's Natural History Museum get bestowed with the "Danekræ" marker. As NBC News reports, that means the recently unearthed Danekræ DK-1295 is one such treasure. It's also a...

Chirping 'Chorus Waves' Found Unexpectedly Deep in Space
It Sounds Like Birdsong, and
It's Bad News for Astronauts
in case you missed it
Jan 26, 2025 3:10 PM CST

It Sounds Like Birdsong, and It's Bad News for Astronauts

'Chorus waves' that supercharge particles found in an unexpected part of space

(Newser) - Scientists have detected a sound like birdsong in an unexpected part of space, which could be bad news for future space missions. In a study published in the journal Nature , researchers say they detected chorus waves—intense electromagnetic waves that sound like birds chirping—more than 100,000 miles from...

Ozempic, Wegovy Have 'Eye-Opening' Effects on Health
Ozempic, Wegovy Have
'Eye-Opening' Effects on Health
in case you missed it
Jan 25, 2025 12:10 PM CST

Ozempic, Wegovy Have 'Eye-Opening' Effects on Health

Scientists find GLP-1 drugs lower risk for dozens of other conditions—but there are caveats

(Newser) - Once we crossed the Rubicon to use diabetes drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic, and Mounjaro for weight loss, it seemed inevitable that scientists would investigate what else these apparent wonder drugs might tackle. Now, the first study to look at how the medications affect overall health is done, and it's...

Men Are Growing Faster Than Women
Men Are Growing
Faster Than Women
new study
Jan 24, 2025 9:59 AM CST

Men Are Growing Faster Than Women

They've also outpaced women on weight gains over the last century

(Newser) - Men and women around the world have gotten taller and heavier over the last century, but men have done so faster in both categories, a new study suggests. Researchers from the US, the UK, and Italy crunched health data from the World Health Organization going back to 1900 on more...

With Mifepristone Under Attack, a New Possible Option

Study: Ulipristal acetate found in emergency contraception pill may be viable abortion alternative

(Newser) - A new study suggests that a pill used for emergency contraception could be repurposed at a higher dose as an abortion drug, providing a possible alternative to mifepristone, one of the two drugs used in the most common type of abortion in the United States. Mifepristone has been under attack...

Drink a Lot of Joe? You May Be Fending Off Cancer
Coffee May Keep
a Particular Cancer at Bay
NEW STUDY
Jan 23, 2025 9:45 AM CST

Coffee May Keep a Particular Cancer at Bay

And it may not be the caffeine that lowers risk of head and neck cancer, scientists say

(Newser) - We already know that coffee may be able to help mitigate couch-potato lifestyles , boost longevity , and reduce your risk for a slew of conditions, including diabetes and heart disease. Add two more to that latter list, according to research published in the journal Cancer : Scientists have found that drinking four-plus...

When One Chimpanzee Pees, Another Might Follow
Researchers Spent 600 Hours
Watching Chimpanzees Pee
new study
Jan 22, 2025 12:50 PM CST

Researchers Spent 600 Hours Watching Chimpanzees Pee

Study finds urination is a slightly contagious behavior

(Newser) - Watch someone yawn and there's a chance you'll yawn, too. Watch someone pee and ... well, if you're a chimpanzee, there's a chance you'll end up urinating as well. So finds a new paper published Monday in Current Biology that NPR reports spun out of a...

Canada Can No Longer Claim the Magnetic North Pole

World Magnetic Model gets its first update since 2020

(Newser) - GPS systems around the world are adjusting to a new model tracking Earth's magnetic north pole, the point that attracts the needle of a compass, which is now closer to Siberia than to Canada, reports the Washington Post . The point, which differs from the geographic North Pole at the...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>