discoveries

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

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The World Has a New Toad
 The World Has a New Toad 
Jan 22, 2014 2:35 PM CST

The World Has a New Toad

Rhinella yunga lives in Peru, sans eardrums

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered a new species of toad, but there's a good reason it took so long to find—from above, this one looks for all the world like a dead leaf. Rhinella yunga lives in the Peruvian Andes, specifically in the region known as the Yungas, reports the...

Israel Unearths 1.5K-Year-Old Church

Byzantine-era mosaic floor will be removed for display

(Newser) - Excavators preparing a plot of earth in southern Israel for new construction instead unearthed an impressive 1,500-year-old church, reports Fox News . The structure, about 70 feet long and 40 feet wide, dates to the Byzantine era and still has mosaics with intricate geometric designs in place on its floors,...

Archaeologists Unearth Unknown Pharaoh in Egypt

Previously unknown Senebkay ruled about 1650BC

(Newser) - Scholars of ancient Egypt have a new pharaoh to study, thanks to archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Museum . Meet Woseribre Senebkay, who ruled from about 1650BC to 1600BC, reports LiveScience . The Penn researchers had to piece together his skeleton after eons of tomb robbers had their way...

Older Brains Slower But Smarter
 Older Brains 
 Are Slower 
 —but Smarter 
STUDY SAYS
Jan 21, 2014 2:11 AM CST

Older Brains Are Slower —but Smarter

Wealth of knowledge, not weakness slows things down

(Newser) - When elderly people seem slow or forgetful, it's not because their brains are weaker, but because they have so much knowledge stored up, according to new research. A team using computer models found that measures used to test cognitive decline are flawed and that the wealth of information to...

Dark Matter's 'Cosmic Web' Spotted for 1st Time

Scientists see glue that holds universe together

(Newser) - Scientists have seen a tendril of dark matter for the first time, and all it took was a "cosmic flashlight." Using the Keck telescope in Hawaii, a scientific team spotted the dark matter in a gas cloud illuminated by the radiation of a distant quasar, the BBC reports....

DNA Tests Clear Up Titanic's 'Last Mystery'

Did 2-year-old Loraine Allison perish in 1912 ... or not?

(Newser) - A century later, the word "mystery" has been replaced by "hoax." The Telegraph reports on what it calls the Titanic's "last mystery": What was the fate of Loraine Allison? The 2-year-old passenger was believed to have gone down with the ship, which would make her...

Birds&#39; V-Formation Explained
 Birds' V-Formation Explained 
in case you missed it
Jan 19, 2014 11:21 AM CST

Birds' V-Formation Explained

It's even more impressive than you probably imagined

(Newser) - OK, this is just cool: We all know birds fly in V-formations, but an in-depth study into the pattern using high-tech GPS sensors has found just how precise a science the flight model is. After tracking and monitoring a flock of northern bald ibises—rare birds raised in captivity that...

&#39;Amazingly, Smoking Is Even Worse Than We Knew&#39;

 'Amazingly, 
 Smoking Is 
 Even Worse 
 Than We Knew' 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 19, 2014 7:14 AM CST

'Amazingly, Smoking Is Even Worse Than We Knew'

Causes diabetes, erectile dysfunction, and more, surgeon general's report finds

(Newser) - Yes, smoking is bad for you, but just how bad might still surprise you. A surgeon general's report out Friday reports that lighting up is scientifically proven to cause diabetes, colorectal and liver cancers, erectile dysfunction, and ectopic pregnancy, the New York Times reports. And more: vision loss, tuberculosis,...

Search Begins for Battlefield Lost for Centuries

Battle of Brunanburh helped define English, Scottish identities

(Newser) - Scotland is poised to vote on independence this year—and before it does, researchers are hoping they'll be able to track down the site of a battle at the root of the English-Scottish divide. There are more than 40 sites across Britain where experts have suggested the vicious Battle...

Scientist Calculates Where to Go If a Nuclear Bomb Hits
Scientist Calculates Where
to Go If a Nuclear Bomb Hits
in case you missed it
Jan 18, 2014 1:05 PM CST

Scientist Calculates Where to Go If a Nuclear Bomb Hits

Do you head to inadequate shelter or better shelter? Michael Dillon has the answer

(Newser) - Good news: A mathematical model has been created that could help save your life in the event that your city is hit by a nuclear bomb. Scientist Michael Dillon's model, published Tuesday, is about reducing radiation risk from the bomb's fallout, and calculates "optimal shelter exit time....

Babies Really Do Fake-Cry

 Babies Really 
 Do Fake-Cry 
study says
Jan 18, 2014 8:55 AM CST

Babies Really Do Fake-Cry

It's a technique to get what they want: study

(Newser) - Looks like babies have been tricking us. Just as many parents suspected, infants sometimes cry without actually being upset, a new study suggests. Instead, their tears are aimed at getting what they want, the Week reports. A researcher in Japan reviewed 102 crying episodes of two babies; he filmed the...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including how trees seem to have defied the usual aging process

(Newser) - Age-defying trees and a theory about what did in Alexander the Great are among this week's discoveries:
  • Trees Grow Faster as They Age : New research that shows large, old trees grow much faster than their younger counterparts—and speed up their growth as they age. In effect, they become
...

Alfred the Great Bone Found ... in a Box?

Bone that could be his or his son's found in 1999 dig

(Newser) - Archaeologists may have uncovered a bone fragment belonging to Alfred the Great—in 1999. The English king, who ruled from 871 until his death in 899, made news last year when experts thought they had found his unmarked grave . Except the remains they found there turned out to be from...

New Zealand's Tallest Mountain Has Shrunk

Ice collapse decades ago knocks almost 100 feet off Mount Cook

(Newser) - The highest point in New Zealand is about 100 feet shorter than we thought. A new measurement of Aoraki/Mount Cook puts its height at roughly 12,217.8 feet, down from an official listed height of 12,316.3 feet, Stuff.co.nz reports. That discrepancy likely isn't due...

Not So Funny? Comedians Have Psychotic Traits

Score higher compared to those in 'non-creative' jobs

(Newser) - Plenty of people would agree comedians are a bit crazy—but are they psychotic? Not quite, but they measure as having higher levels of psychotic personality traits than those in "non-creative" professions, a new study finds. Researchers had 523 comedians, 364 actors, and 831 people in the "non-creative...

Study: Alexander the Great Felled by Toxic Wine

Scientist theorizes Veratrum album did him in

(Newser) - One of the greatest mysteries surrounding Alexander the Great—namely, why he died at age 32—may finally have been solved, with a scientist who has been researching the question for a decade now theorizing that he was done in by wine made from an innocent-looking but poisonous plant, reports...

Oldest Trees are Fastest Growers
 Oldest Trees 
 Grow at a 
 Scary Rate 
STUDY SAYS
Jan 16, 2014 7:03 AM CST

Oldest Trees Grow at a Scary Rate

They keep 'growing like crazy' as they age

(Newser) - Conventional wisdom about forestry has been chopped down and sent through the chipper by new research that shows large, old trees grow much faster than their younger counterparts—and speed up their growth as they age, becoming stronger as the years go by. Researchers studied measurements of more than 670,...

Fish Fossil Challenges Standard View on Evolution

Ancient creature suggests animals developed legs before moving to land

(Newser) - Conventional wisdom has it that the first creatures to emerge from the water eons ago did so without hind limbs. Conventional wisdom, meet Tiktaalik roseae. As the Boston Globe explains, Tiktaalik is a 375-million-year-old fish that swam in what is now the Canadian Arctic. Researchers already knew that the fish...

Even Deeper 'Grand Canyon' Found Under Antarctic Ice

It's almost 2 miles at its deepest

(Newser) - It looks like the Grand Canyon has some pretty stiff competition near both poles. In August, scientists announced they had found a Greenland canyon that dwarfs the famed one in Arizona. Now, researchers have repeated the feat—and then some—in the Antarctic. Phys.Org reports that a group of...

For Monkeys, Love Means Chucking Rocks

Female capuchins have a rather painful way of signaling mates

(Newser) - Good news for male capuchin monkeys wondering why females are always throwing rocks at them: They're actually attracted to you (the bad news probably goes unsaid here). Researchers studying the sex lives of monkeys in Brazil's Serra de Capivara national park found that amorous female capuchins whine and...

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