discoveries

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

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Spanish Conquest Literally Changed Peru's Shape

Age-old process on coastline halted with departure of Incas

(Newser) - The coming of the Spanish conquistadors changed Peru's shape forever—literally, according to researchers who say sand ridges stopped forming along the northern coast after the Incas were forced out of the area or killed by disease after Francisco Pizarro's 1532 arrival. Phys.org explains that radiocarbon dating...

Nightsnake 'Lost' for Decades Is Rediscovered

Original sighting on Mexican island was long written off as mistake

(Newser) - The Clarion nightsnake is hard to spot, so hard to spot that for decades, the only sighting of the species native to one of Mexico's Revillagigedo Islands—the original sighting—was assumed to be a mistake. A joint US-Mexico team, however, managed to rediscover the species found by American...

Newly Found Praying Mantis Is a 'Vicious' Hunter

At least the females, anyway

(Newser) - Researchers have discovered a new species of praying mantis in a Rwandan forest with a unique trait: The females have no wings and are "vicious hunters" who scour the forest undergrowth for prey, reports LiveScience . In fact, they're so good at it that the new species name translates...

Study Debunks Fairy Circle Theories

Termites, underground gases don't deserve the credit

(Newser) - The upshot of the latest study on the enigmatic "fairy circles" that appear in Southwest Africa: "Their mystery remains as yet unresolved." But scientists have been able to rule out one of the leading hypotheses, which fingered termites as the likeliest creators . A 2013 study found evidence...

You and Your Spouse May Have Similar DNA

But new study finds your education level similarity is likely much stronger

(Newser) - You may have more in common with your spouse than you think—like DNA, a new study suggests. Scientists came to their conclusion, published yesterday in the journal PNAS , after reviewing data on 9,429 non-Hispanic whites, a group that included 825 wedded couples. The bigger number of the study:...

Entirely New Order of Animal Discovered

Genetic analysis reveals one of planet's biggest sea anemones isn't one

(Newser) - Researchers creating a catalog-like "tree of life" for sea anemones discovered an entirely new kind of animal among them. Based on genetic analysis, a creature that lives near deep sea thermal vents in the Pacific and had been considered a giant sea anemone really isn't actually a sea...

Animals Are Capable of Abstract Thought
Animals Are Capable of Abstract Thought
studies say
May 18, 2014 7:00 PM CDT

Animals Are Capable of Abstract Thought

And, in the case of apes, using touchscreens apparently

(Newser) - We humans have some pretty big britches when it comes to our intellectual prowess, thinking our high-falutin' language gives us the unique ability to grasp abstract concepts and make connections. But research increasingly shows that animals can do the same, Scientific American reports. In a remarkable experiment last fall, researchers...

Lab Mistake Results in Momentous Find
Lab Mistake Results in Momentous Find
in case you missed it
May 18, 2014 2:20 PM CDT

Lab Mistake Results in Momentous Find

New synthetic polymers are strong, light, and recyclable

(Newser) - It's a happy accident: A mistake at an IBM research lab has created "a super-strong, super-light, and super-recyclable new material," that could transform the old-school world of plastics and polymers and improve a slew of products, NBC News reports. Most of our polymers date back decades—think...

How Gamblers Manage to Get Lucky Streaks
 How Gamblers 
 Manage to Get 
 Lucky Streaks 
study says
May 18, 2014 9:17 AM CDT

How Gamblers Manage to Get Lucky Streaks

They're not really based on luck: study

(Newser) - Lucky streaks shouldn't really happen. After all, the chances of a successful bet this time aren't affected by a win last time. Yet the phenomenon of lucky streaks—as well as losing streaks—does occur, scientists found after reviewing 565,915 online bets on horse racing, soccer, and...

Scientists Solve Nagging Octopus Question

Here's why the creatures don't get tangled

(Newser) - If you had eight arms, how would you avoid tripping and tangling yourself up—especially if the arms were covered in suckers? Somehow, octopuses manage, but scientists didn't know how. New research indicates, however, that the suckers on the arms are able to identify other arms and avoid sticking...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a lab error that turned out for the best

(Newser) - Two ancient cave discoveries, one human and one from the sea, highlight the list this week:
  • Ancient Skeleton May Settle Debate on First Americans : A slight teenage girl who died in a Mexican cave 12,000 years ago may help settle a long-simmering debate in archaeological circles: Where did the
...

The Sun May Cause Lightning
 The Sun May Cause Lightning 
May 16, 2014 1:54 PM CDT

The Sun May Cause Lightning

Solar winds appear to trigger storms

(Newser) - The weather on the sun might just have an effect on the weather here on earth. Fast-moving solar winds tend to go hand-in-hand with an uptick in lightning storms, a new study reveals. The finding is somewhat puzzling as scientists have long believed that increased solar activity led to a...

Shorter Men Have Longer Lives
 Shorter Men Have Longer Lives 
new study
May 16, 2014 8:52 AM CDT

Shorter Men Have Longer Lives

But lifestyle still plays an important role, study authors note

(Newser) - FOXO3—what a gene: Men who get a "protective" version of it will experience a number of longevity-related upsides: It contributes to regulating insulin, suppressing tumors, and protecting cells from oxidative stress. But it's also likely to make them short. Such is the conclusion of a study of...

To Treat Diabetes, Skip Dinner
 To Treat Diabetes, Skip Dinner 
STUDY SAYS
May 16, 2014 7:27 AM CDT

To Treat Diabetes, Skip Dinner

2 big meals better than 6 small ones, researchers say

(Newser) - "We confirmed the ancient proverb 'eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper,'" says the leader of a team of researchers that found eating just two meals a day can be an effective way to manage type 2 diabetes. The...

Ancient Skeleton May Settle Debate on First Americans

Girl from 12K years ago has same DNA as modern Native Americans

(Newser) - A slight teenage girl who died in a Mexican cave 12,000 years ago may help settle a long-simmering debate in archaeological circles, reports USA Today : Where did the very first Americans come from? The answer doesn't seem to be Europe, Australia, or southeastern Asia, but rather a land...

Woman's Cancer Killed ... by Measles

Treatment had only been tested on mice before

(Newser) - In a breakthrough that could offer new hope to people with some kinds of cancer, Mayo Clinic researchers say they managed to wipe out a woman's cancer with a blast of measles vaccine strong enough to inoculate 10 million people. The 50-year-old woman's blood cancer, which had spread...

Archaeologist: Santa Maria Wreckage in Danger

Barry Clifford fears looters, but government skeptics remain

(Newser) - Underwater archaeologist Barry Clifford yesterday alerted the world to what he sees as the danger of looting at the site of what could be Christopher Columbus' Santa Maria . "There is nobody watching the ship right now," he said at the Explorers Club in New York, and "somebody...

Scientists Find World's Oldest Sperm

Shrimp-like creatures were preserved nearly in mid-act 17M years ago

(Newser) - About 17 million years ago, a shrimp-like creature had sex in a cave in Australia, but instead of an afterglow, she got hit almost immediately with what one scientist thinks was a "torrential rain of bat droppings," reports Australia's ABC News . Her misfortune then is scientists' delight...

Remarkable Find: an Underwater 'Graveyard'

Science gets its first view of giant sharks and rays being devoured

(Newser) - Marine biologists have gotten a grisly treat courtesy of remotely operated vehicles surveying the seafloor off Angola for the oil and gas industry: For the first time, the carcasses of large fish—a whale shark and three mobulid rays—and the feeding frenzy they create have been filmed. The researchers...

Sleeping Less Tied to Eating More
 Study: Sleep Less, Eat More 
May 13, 2014 2:36 PM CDT

Study: Sleep Less, Eat More

Yet another reason to take sleep seriously: researchers

(Newser) - The way you eat, it seems, is tied up with the way you sleep. Researchers recently found that women who slept fewer than six hours a night took in more daytime calories than did women who slept seven hours, LiveScience reports. And the food consumed by the six-hour sleepers wasn'...

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