discoveries

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

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99.999% of the Deep Sea Remains Unexplored
99.999% of the Deep Sea
Remains Unexplored
NEW STUDY
May 8, 2025 10:25 AM CDT

99.999% of the Deep Sea Remains Unexplored

Researchers describe bias in geographic coverage, operator representation

(Newser) - Across Earth's deep oceans, explorers have taken a look at an area roughly the size of Rhode Island, which isn't saying much. That works out to about 0.001% of the deep sea, according to a study published Wednesday in Science Advances . In other words, 99.999% of...

Shingles Vaccine Proves Good for the Heart
Shingles Vaccine
Has Added
Benefits for
the Heart
NEW STUDY
May 8, 2025 8:25 AM CDT

Shingles Vaccine Has Added Benefits for the Heart

Study finds shot lowers risk of heart attack, as well as stroke, by 26%

(Newser) - A shingles shot might do more than spare you from an awful rash—it could help keep your heart ticking, too. New research out of South Korea links the vaccine not just to preventing shingles, but to lowering your risk of heart attacks and strokes. Scientists at Kyung Hee...

Rare Carnivorous Snail Lays an Egg From Its Neck

This is the first time the moment has been captured on video

(Newser) - The strange reproductive habits of a large, carnivorous New Zealand snail were once shrouded in mystery. Now footage of the snail laying an egg from its neck has been captured for the first time, the country's conservation agency says. What looks like a tiny hen's egg is seen...

Charred Vesuvius Scroll Gives Up Its Author

PHerc. 172 identified as part of Greek philosopher Philodemus' 'On Vices'

(Newser) - There's been a "very exciting development" in the two-year-old Vesuvius Challenge, an effort to decode ancient scrolls charred by the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. As unrolling the 2,000-year-old carbonized scrolls unearthed in Herculaneum guarantee damage, if not total destruction, scholars have been using powerful 3D X-rays...

Physicists: We Figured Out a Tricky Italian Dish
Physicists: We Figured Out
a Tricky Italian Dish
new study
May 3, 2025 8:30 AM CDT

Physicists: We Figured Out a Tricky Italian Dish

Secret to a perfect 'cacio e pepe' recipe is to add starch, they say

(Newser) - It's a physics study with the most tangible of applications: a better recipe. Italian scientists say they've figured out how to make a tricky Italian dish—cacio e pepe—come out great every time, reports the BBC . The trick is adding starch to the water. The name of...

Hundreds of Snake Bites Gave Man 'Amazing Antibodies'

Wisconsin man's unique blood could help develop antivenom effective against many snake species

(Newser) - Tim Friede has been bitten by snakes hundreds of times—often on purpose. Now scientists are studying his blood in hopes of creating a better treatment for snake bites. Friede has long had a fascination with reptiles and other venomous creatures. He used to milk scorpions' and spiders' venom as...

Birds Give Us Another Sign of Our 'Slow-Moving Extinction Crisis'

Research finds 75% of bird species in North America are seeing a population decline

(Newser) - North America has a bird problem—not too many, but perhaps too few in the not-so-distant future. New research published Thursday in the journal Science reveals that 75% of the continent's bird species are on a downward spiral, seeing their populations decline between 2007 and 2021. The Washington Post...

After Cancer, Women More Likely to Report This Than Men

Female patients appear to have more cancer-related depression, fatigue than male counterparts

(Newser) - Women who struggle to get back to their old selves after cancer aren't alone. Female cancer survivors are significantly more likely than male counterparts to suffer fatigue and depression, according to new research. Dr. Simo Du, a resident physician at New York City's Jacobi Medical Center, first noticed...

'Hell Ant' Is Oldest Ever Found—by Millions of Years

113M-year-old species may have impaled prey with upward-moving jaws

(Newser) - An overlooked fossil in storage in Brazil was hiding the 113-million-year-old remains of a "hell ant," now the oldest ant specimen known to science. The winged ant dubbed Vulcanidris cratensis, described Thursday in Current Biology , is one of numerous extinct "hell ant" species, so named for their...

Mystery Surrounds Sunken Aircraft Carrier's Lone Car
Mystery Surrounds Sunken
Aircraft Carrier's Lone Car
in case you missed it
Apr 27, 2025 6:38 AM CDT

Mystery Surrounds Sunken Aircraft Carrier's Lone Car

Ford convertible discovered in the wreck of USS Yorktown

(Newser) - A crew researching an iconic US Navy aircraft carrier that sunk during World War II just discovered a baffling artifact inside: a Ford convertible that would've been nearly new when the USS Yorktown was torpedoed in June 1942. It's a fascinating discovery in part because there's no...

'Bone Collector' Caterpillar Dresses in Insect Parts
'Bone Collector' Caterpillar
Dresses in Insect Parts
NEW STUDY
Apr 25, 2025 12:22 PM CDT

'Bone Collector' Caterpillar Dresses in Insect Parts

'They need to hide in a tapestry of bug parts to stay alive in the spider's lair'

(Newser) - A newly discovered carnivorous caterpillar that wears the remains of its prey has been dubbed the "bone collector." The odd insect is only found on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, the AP reports. It creeps along spiderwebs, feeding on trapped insects and decorating its silk case with their...

Britain Was Once Home to Giant Icebergs
Massive Icebergs Once
Floated Around the UK
NEW STUDY
Apr 24, 2025 1:17 PM CDT

Massive Icebergs Once Floated Around the UK

Evidence could prove useful in understanding how ice sheets respond to climate change

(Newser) - Deep tracks in the floor of the North Sea are hugely exciting to scientists in the UK, who say the grooves not only confirm that an ice sheet once covered Britain and Ireland, but also that it calved icebergs as large as cities. As the giant tabular icebergs with wide,...

For Shakespeare Buffs, a 'Horrible, Difficult Problem'

Letter fragment seems to indicate the bard's marriage wasn't as terrible as it was rumored to be

(Newser) - If People and Us Weekly had existed in Shakespeare's time, they likely would've been constantly scrutinizing the marriage of the British playwright and Anne Hathaway, who were rumored to be on the outs in their later years. There are no ancient tabloids to rely on as evidence, but...

Pot's Potential Against Cancer Isn't Just Fighting Symptoms
Pot's Potential
Against Cancer Isn't
Just Fighting Symptoms
in case you missed it
Apr 20, 2025 4:10 PM CDT

Pot's Potential Against Cancer Isn't Just Fighting Symptoms

New meta-analysis finds medical cannabis helps fight both symptoms and cancer cells themselves

(Newser) - Cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes for some time, providing relief from pain, insomnia, anxiety, and nausea. Now, scientists say that pot shows promise in fighting the big "C" itself. The Guardian reports on the largest-ever study on using medical marijuana to treat cancer, with "overwhelming scientific...

Salmon Grow Bolder on Anxiety Drugs
Salmon Grow Bolder
on Anxiety Drugs
new study
Apr 20, 2025 2:45 PM CDT

Salmon Grow Bolder on Anxiety Drugs

Study has implications for medications entering our waterways

(Newser) - Anxiety drugs change the behavior of humans—and a new study suggests they change the behavior of salmon, too. Researchers in Sweden set out to study how medication that leeches into waterways might affect fish, explains NPR . They implanted two drugs in various amounts in about 280 farm-raised salmon: clobazam,...

'These Are the First Hints' of an Inhabited Alien World
'These Are
the First Hints'
of an Inhabited
Alien World
in case you missed it
Apr 20, 2025 11:30 AM CDT

'These Are the First Hints' of an Inhabited Alien World

New analysis detects more life-producing molecules on K2-18b

(Newser) - Researchers peering into the cosmos with help from the James Webb Space Telescope say they've uncovered the strongest sign yet of extraterrestrial life. It comes from K2-18b, a planet with about 2.5 times the radius of Earth that resides in the constellation Leo, some 120 light-years away. The...

Warm Weather Gives Pack Rats a Leg Up on Rattlesnakes

Warm temps, diet seem to influence how protected desert wood rats are against snake toxins

(Newser) - The secret to surviving a rattlesnake bite may lie not just in genetics, but in the temperature outside: New research reveals that weather and diet can shape how well desert wood rats, a form of pack rat, resist deadly venom. In a new study published Wednesday in Biology Letters...

He Wrote the Note in '76. 2 Brothers Just Found the Bottle

Siblings find message in bottle in Bahamas, written by Massachusetts teen almost 50 years ago

(Newser) - It took nearly 50 years, but a Massachusetts teen's message in a bottle has finally made landfall, about 1,300 miles away. UPI reports that Peter Thompson's note in a Pepsi bottle—written in 1976, when he was 14 and taking a junior high oceanography class in West...

There's Been a Reversal of the Binge-Drinking Gender Gap

Young women are binge drinking more often than young men, but drinking is down overall

(Newser) - Young Americans aren't drinking as much alcohol as previous generations, says Dr. Bryant Shuey, a physician at the University of Pittsburgh, but he's noticed a concerning trend among those who do indulge. Shuey and other researchers say that in a reversal of past trends, women 18 to 25...

You've Never Seen a Colossal Squid Like This
You've Never Seen a
Colossal Squid Like This
VIDEO
Apr 16, 2025 3:00 PM CDT

You've Never Seen a Colossal Squid Like This

Footage offers first look at the species—and a juvenile—in its natural habitat

(Newser) - The colossal squid, an incredibly rare species native to Antarctic waters, can be longer than a pickup truck and weigh more than 1,000 pounds, making it the world's heaviest known invertebrate. But the first confirmed colossal squid recorded alive in its natural habitat is a fraction of that...

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