discoveries

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

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Saturn Moon Now 'Best Bet' for Finding Life

Probe finds new signs of underground Enceladus ocean

(Newser) - Saturn's sixth-largest moon holds an underground ocean with at least as much water as Lake Superior, according to exciting new data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft that makes some scientists believe Enceladus is now the place in our solar system where we're most likely to find extraterrestrial life....

Study: Shroud of Turin Reveals Crucifixion's Shape

And it's not a 'T'

(Newser) - Picture Christ on the cross, as you've seen him on countless statues: The figure is, more than likely, a T-shape one. If the Shroud of Turin truly was Jesus' burial cloth, the reality is something more closely resembling a Y, according to Matteo Borrini . The forensic anthropologist was curious...

Morning Light Could Be Key to Weight Loss

Light exposure kick-starts metabolism

(Newser) - Getting a good dose of early morning light on a regular basis appears to be a simple but remarkably effective way of maintaining a healthy weight, according to a groundbreaking new study. Researchers found that regardless of caloric intake, people who had more early light exposure were the most likely...

Moon Gets a New Birthday
 Moon Gets a New Birthday 
Apr 3, 2014 1:36 AM CDT

Moon Gets a New Birthday

Formation happened later than thought, study says

(Newser) - The cataclysmic event that formed the moon happened much later than previously believed, according to researchers who have shifted the satellite's "birthday" forward around 60 million years. New computer simulations and analysis of elements in the Earth's crust suggest that the moon formed 95 million years after...

Zebra Stripe Mystery Solved, Researchers Say

Stripes help deter biting flies, not lions

(Newser) - The centuries-old puzzle of why zebras have stripes has been solved, and they're not there to confuse lions or for decoration, researchers say. A new study backs up the theory that stripes evolved as a way to deter biting flies , Real Clear Science reports. Researchers gathered stripe pattern data...

Historians: We've Found the Holy Grail

3-year quest started in Cairo

(Newser) - Historians claim that a goblet long identified as belonging to the daughter of an 11th-century Spanish king has actually housed the Holy Grail—and has been sitting in a basilica in the northwestern city of León for nearly a thousand years. A three-year quest that began at a Cairo...

Men&#39;s IQ Easier to See Than Women&#39;s
 Men's IQ Easier to Spot
 Than Women's 
study says
Mar 31, 2014 7:40 PM CDT

Men's IQ Easier to Spot Than Women's

Study asks people to guess IQ by looking at faces

(Newser) - It's easier to guess men's intelligence than women's just by looking at their faces—maybe because we're so distracted by female beauty, according to a new study . Czech researchers gave IQ tests to 80 male and female students, took photos of them, and asked 160 students...

Black Death Wasn't Actually Bubonic Plague

Researchers think it spread in an airborne manner

(Newser) - A fascinating sidebar to the news that some of the skeletons dug up in London during excavation for a train line last year are indeed the remains of Black Death victims : The Observer zeroes in on a new theory as to how the disease spread, and according to researchers, we...

Utah Teen Finds Ancient Remains in Backyard

Bones turned out to be 1K years old

(Newser) - A Utah teen digging a trout pond in his backyard unearthed human remains that turned out to have been there for at least a thousand years. The teen's father called police after a skull and other bones were found and the case was turned over to archeologists after medical...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including an ancient turtle bone finally made whole again

(Newser) - Two major space discoveries highlight the list this week:
  • Far-Flung Dwarf Planet May Reveal Cosmic Secrets : An icy, pink dwarf planet discovered beyond Pluto in the nether regions of our solar system could help shed light on how our cosmos came to be. It also hints that a so-far unseen
...

Teen Discovers Font Change Could Save Feds $136M

Suvir Mirchandani finds Garamond is the way to go

(Newser) - A teen's science fair project could save the US government $136 million each year. Oh, and it could save you a few bucks, too. Suvir Mirchandani, 14, wanted to find a way to make his many school handouts more sustainable. It all boiled down to a single liquid: After...

Autism in Kids Jumps 30%
 Autism in Kids Jumps 30% 
Mar 27, 2014 2:00 PM CDT

Autism in Kids Jumps 30%

CDC report concludes that 1 in 68 has it

(Newser) - Autism Spectrum Disorder may be on the rise in the US, with 1 in 68 children now having the condition, according to CDC figures released today. That's a 30% increase from the 1 in 88 number recorded just two years ago, CNN reports. It also means that, according to...

Pothead Students Beat Out Kids Who Smoke Cigs
Pothead Students Beat Out Kids Who Smoke Cigs
study says
Mar 27, 2014 10:05 AM CDT

Pothead Students Beat Out Kids Who Smoke Cigs

But those who abstain from both do best of all, says study

(Newser) - A little more ammo for the pro-marijuana crowd: A major study out of Canada finds that students who smoke pot do better in school than those who smoke tobacco or indulge in both, reports CTV . But, no, it's not about marijuana making kids smarter. In fact, kids who abstain...

Autism Starts In the Womb
 Autism Starts in the Womb 
STUDY SAYS
Mar 27, 2014 6:33 AM CDT

Autism Starts in the Womb

Finding offers new hopes for treatment

(Newser) - Autism appears to start with changes in the brain months before birth, according to new research that highlights the need for early identification and treatment of the disorder. Researchers studying the brains of deceased autistic children found abnormal patches in the cortex that suggest something went wrong either during or...

Solar System First: Asteroid With Rings

'Centaur' has only rings seen outside gas giants

(Newser) - Only five bodies in the solar system are known to have rings: The gas giants Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, and Uranus—and Chariklo, a remote asteroid just 154 miles across. Astronomers say they were amazed to spot two rings made up of billion of bits of dust and ice circling the...

New Dwarf Planet 'Biden' May Offer Cosmic Secrets

Discovery at solar system's edge hints at more to come

(Newser) - Astronomers, and reporters who cover astronomy, are pretty excited today about the discovery of a suspected dwarf planet named 2012 VP-113—and thus nicknamed "Biden"—in the nether regions of the solar system beyond Pluto. Some snippets:
  • Nature : "The Solar System just got a lot more far-flung.
...

Second Half of Turtle Fossil Found 165 Years Later

Paleontologist makes surprising find in New Jersey stream bed

(Newser) - An amateur paleontologist hunting for shark teeth in a New Jersey stream bed found something a lot more interesting: one half of an arm bone from an ancient, massive sea turtle, reports the LA Times . The astonishing part is that the other half of the bone has been sitting in...

Lost Story by Tennessee Williams Published

It's about an old college flame

(Newser) - Fans of Tennessee Williams have a new piece of fiction to savor, reports the BBC . A US literary journal called the Strand has published a long-lost short story from the author of A Streetcar Named Desire called Crazy Night. It features a student named Anna Jean, an apparent reference to...

Trouble Conceiving? Stress Could Be to Blame
Trouble Conceiving?
Stress Could Be to Blame
study says
Mar 24, 2014 1:19 PM CDT

Trouble Conceiving? Stress Could Be to Blame

New study finds link between stress, likelihood of getting pregnant

(Newser) - If you're trying to get pregnant, you may want to go out and get a nice, relaxing massage first: A new study finds that stressed women took longer to conceive. Specifically, subjects with the highest levels of alpha-amylase, an enzyme that indicates stress, were more than twice as likely...

Lack of Sleep Can Fry 25% of Brain Cells
 Lack of Sleep 
 Can Fry 25% 
 of Brain Cells 
in case you missed it
Mar 23, 2014 11:47 AM CDT

Lack of Sleep Can Fry 25% of Brain Cells

Study of mice finds brain damage with prolonged sleep loss

(Newser) - A lack of shut-eye may not just leave you feeling groggy—it could seriously injure your brain. A new study of mice has found 25% of brain cells died off after prolonged sleep loss, meant to duplicate night shifts or long hours at the office—the first evidence of its...

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