discoveries

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

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5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including an insight into dogs' behavior

(Newser) - The ultimate cold case solved and an intriguing discovery beneath Alcatraz are on the list:
  • Mummy Mystery Solved: It Was Murder : She's been known to German archaeologists for more than a century, but they only now know where a mysterious mummy came from—and how she died. Answers: South
...

Mummy Mystery Solved: It Was Murder

Incan woman died from blunt force trauma 500 years ago

(Newser) - She's been known to German archaeologists for more than a century, but they only now know where a mysterious mummy came from—and how she died. The study in PLoS One explains that the mummified woman was brought to Bavaria in the 1900s. It's possible she was acquired...

Hidden Fortress Found Under Alcatraz

Radar reveals long-lost Civil War-era buildings

(Newser) - A surprising find under what used to be America's most notorious prison: Texas A&M researchers using ground-penetrating radar have discovered the remains of an old military fortress long believed to have been completely destroyed, reports the BBC . The San Francisco Bay island was once the home of Fort...

Experts: Dogs Feel No Shame
 Experts: Dogs Feel No Shame 
Feb 27, 2014 3:14 AM CST

Experts: Dogs Feel No Shame

'Guilty dog look' is reaction to anger

(Newser) - Every dog owner knows the "guilty dog" look that has made sites like Dogshaming.com a hit, but animal behavior experts say the pooches don't really feel ashamed at all, the AP finds. Researchers have found that the droopy-eyed, cowering look dogs give angry owners is a reaction...

NASA Hits 715-Planet &#39;Jackpot&#39;
 NASA Hits 715-Planet 'Jackpot' 
Feb 27, 2014 3:00 AM CST

NASA Hits 715-Planet 'Jackpot'

Kepler data massively boosts number of known worlds

(Newser) - NASA says it has almost doubled the number of planets known to humanity with a "bonanza" uncovered by its planet-hunting Kepler telescope. The 715 new planets orbit 305 stars in multi-planet systems like our own, and 94% of them are smaller than Neptune. NASA says it has found...

How an Ancient Whale Graveyard Appeared in Chile

2011 find mystified experts

(Newser) - Researchers were left scratching their heads in 2011 when they came upon a trove of whale fossils between 6 million and 9 million years old, of all places in Chile's Atacama Desert. It featured dozens of specimens, accounting for "at least 10 different kinds of marine animals, recurring...

World's Most Ancient Cheese Found in China

Mummies from 1615 BC were buried with cheese

(Newser) - The oldest cheese ever found was already stale nearly a thousand years before the earliest Greek philosophers were munching on feta. Researchers in China have discovered that the odd clumps of yellow matter found on the necks and chests of mummies from as early as 1615 BC are actually lumps...

Couple Finds $10M in Gold Coins on Dog Walk

The 1800s coins were buried on their property in northern California

(Newser) - That was some dog walk. A couple in California's Sierra Nevada region out for a stroll on their own property unearthed an estimated $10 million in US gold coins from the 1800s, reports the San Francisco Chronicle . It's thought to be the most valuable such hoard ever found...

Moon Struck by 'Extraordinary' Asteroid Blast

Spanish astronomer spotted the dramatic strike last year

(Newser) - A car-sized asteroid smashed into the moon last year and left the longest-ever afterglow for a lunar impact ever seen—one big enough to be spotted by the naked eye under good viewing conditions, a Spanish astronomer said Monday. Jose Maria Madiedo said he witnessed the blast while working two...

Earth&#39;s Oldest Rocks: 4.4B-Year-Old Crystals


 Earth's Oldest Rocks: 
 4.4B-Year-Old Crystals 
study says
Feb 24, 2014 9:46 AM CST

Earth's Oldest Rocks: 4.4B-Year-Old Crystals

They're not much younger than the planet itself

(Newser) - When scientists claimed more than a decade ago that tiny crystals in Australia were 4.4 billion years old, they faced skepticism. The Earth itself, after all, is 4.5 billion years old, the Sydney Morning Herald notes. "Nothing in science goes without being questioned," geochemist John Valley...

Under the Baltic Sea, an Incredible Stone Age Find

Thanks to 'gyttja,' even rope has been preserved

(Newser) - Some 52 feet below the surface of the Baltic Sea sits what the media is calling "Sweden's Atlantis"—though that is just a bit of an overstatement. While it's not a lost island, or even a lost village, it's a site that holds "one-of-a-kind"...

Animals Move Alike &mdash;via &#39;Magic Formula&#39;
Animals Move Alike
—via 'Magic Formula'
STUDY SAYS
Feb 23, 2014 9:07 AM CST

Animals Move Alike —via 'Magic Formula'

Birds, fish, and other creatures use the same basic mechanics, says study

(Newser) - When it comes to movement, human engineering has much to learn from Mother Nature, says a new study in Nature Communications . Researchers found that animals of all kinds use the same essential mechanics to move whether on land, air, or water, reports the Houston Chronicle , which likens it to a...

Why Dogs Can Tell If You're Happy

Their brains are built to pay special attention to our vocal sounds, process emotions

(Newser) - A first-of-its-kind study of dogs suggests that their brains are wired to key in on vocal sounds from humans and process our emotional states, reports Wired . The mutts then respond accordingly. Hungarian researchers used brain scans to show that a certain area of the dogs' brains light up when they...

Sorry Florida, Long-Lost Fort May Be in Georgia

Researchers think historic Fort Caroline is one state over

(Newser) - No wonder historians haven't been able to find a historic but long-lost French fort in America: They were looking in the wrong state. Researchers from Florida State University say Fort Caroline—which one calls "the oldest fortified settlement in the present United States"—isn't near Jacksonville...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a new species in which the males suffer a strange fate

(Newser) - This week: Stonehenge gives up another of its secrets, and your cat may see things you just can't.
  • Source of Stonehenge's Rocks Pinpointed : For nine decades, it's been established that many of Stonehenge's smaller rocks hail from the Preseli Hills in Wales ... but we may have
...

10 Words Deciphered From Mysterious 600-Year-Old Text

Stephen Bax has figured out 14 characters from the Voynich manuscript

(Newser) - What has been called the most mysterious manuscript in the world has at last given up a tiny handful of its secrets. An applied linguistics professor thinks he's deciphered 14 characters from the famous Voynich manuscript, and with them 10 complete words, LiveScience , the BBC , and the Independent report....

Yellowstone Blasts Incredibly Old Helium

The gas has been building for hundreds of millions of years

(Newser) - Yellowstone National Park has long been known as a gassy place, and its reputation as such just got more firmly established. That helium emanates from the ground in the park is an established fact, Smithsonian Magazine explains, but when researchers dug into the makeup of that helium, what they found...

In Finland, Reindeer Glow in the Dark

Reflective spray being tested as way to cut down on car accidents

(Newser) - Rudolph's glowing nose just became rather unnecessary—at least in Finland, where herders are painting reindeer to essentially glow in the dark. It's not Santa's sleigh they're worried about, but oncoming cars. Roughly 4,000 reindeer die in traffic accidents in the country each year, the...

Elephants Console Each Other
 Elephants Console Each Other 
Feb 19, 2014 5:27 PM CST

Elephants Console Each Other

They comfort distressed pals, says study

(Newser) - Elephants not only recognize when a member of their group is stressed, they offer comfort in the form of reassuring touches and chirping noises, reports National Geographic . The "comforting" trait is rare among animals, with dogs, chimps, and we humans among the few to have it. Researchers in Thailand...

One Monkey Controls Another, Avatar-Style

Brain, spine implants link animals' movements

(Newser) - In the movie Avatar, a paralyzed soldier uses a computer to control a body remotely. In a new study, scientists have moved a little closer to making that story a reality, LiveScience reports. US researchers installed electrodes into a "master" monkey's brain and an "avatar" monkey's...

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