discoveries

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

Stories 601 - 620 | << Prev   Next >>

This Is the Perfect Amount of Sleep Once You Hit Middle Age

7 hours per night is the sweet spot for those in middle, old age, per latest research, but with caveats

(Newser) - If you've been skimping a bit on sleep and breaching that long-held "eight hours a night" mantra, you might be OK—as long as it's only by an hour or so, and you're a Gen Xer or boomer. Scientists in the UK and China have found...

Physicists Float a Surprise Theory About Fate of Universe

Princeton scientists say it may stop expanding and start contracting in 100M years

(Newser) - Physicists agree that the universe is not only expanding, but that this expansion is accelerating. But for how long? A new study by three Princeton scientists floats the provocative idea that expansion could end "surprisingly soon," as lead author Paul Steinhardt writes in the Proceedings of the National...

Couple Finds Preserved McDonald&#39;s Fries From 1959
While Replacing TP Holder,
Couple Makes Surprising Find
in case you missed it
May 1, 2022 12:02 PM CDT

While Replacing TP Holder, Couple Makes Surprising Find

'Very well preserved' bag of McDonald's fries was hidden in the wall of their Illinois home

(Newser) - Opening up a small hole in their bathroom wall to replace a built-in toilet paper holder, Rob and Grace Jones of Crystal Lake, Ill., looked inside and spotted a towel hiding something inside. "We were expecting the worst. We were both like, 'Oh, my gosh, we're going...

In Norway, Melting Ice Reveals Ancient History

Global warming is helping archaeologists write a new chapter about mountain wilderness

(Newser) - In 2019, a Norwegian mountaineer stumbled across a soggy, twisted blob of leather on a patch of ice. Before continuing, he reported the find to archaeologists with Secrets of the Ice, a project that researches ancient trade routes exposed in recent decades by melting icepack. “He sent us GPS...

'Crime Scene' of 150 Skulls Was Actually Coldest of Cases

Remains found in Mexican cave in 2012 date from AD 900

(Newser) - When Mexican police found a pile of about 150 skulls in a cave near the Guatemalan border, they thought they were looking at a crime scene, and took the bones to the state capital. It turns out it was a very cold case. It took a decade of tests and...

Farmer Working His Fields Makes an Ancient Find

Limestone head is thought to represent the Canaanite goddess Anat

(Newser) - A farmer in the Gaza Strip went to work on Monday and found himself the subject of international news stories days later, all thanks to what he found in the ground. Nidal Abu Eid was plowing his land when he turned up a 4,500-year-old limestone head thought to represent...

Site First Excavated in Early 1900s Gives Up New Find

Ruins of temple to Zeus have been unearthed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula

(Newser) - Egyptian archaeologists unearthed the ruins of a temple for the ancient Greek god Zeus in the Sinai Peninsula, antiquities authorities said Monday. The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry said in a statement the temple ruins were found in the Tell el-Farma archaeological site (its ancient name is Pelusium) in northwestern Sinai....

It Was Like TV for the Stone Age
It Was Like TV
for the Stone Age
new study
Apr 25, 2022 11:05 AM CDT

It Was Like TV for the Stone Age

Study suggests cave artists used firelight to animate their work around the hearth

(Newser) - A museumgoer who checks out a prehistoric drawing etched on a rock sees only the static image, safely housed under a glass case under controlled light. A new study suggests the people who first looked at the same rock saw something else entirely—a dynamic image that appeared to be...

Popular Time-Restricted Diet Plan May Not Work
Popular Time-Restricted
Diet Plan May Not Work
new study
Apr 21, 2022 1:40 PM CDT

Popular Time-Restricted Diet Plan May Not Work

Comprehensive study suggests limiting meals to a certain time window doesn't matter

(Newser) - It's a been a popular fitness trend in recent years—people limit their meals to a certain window each day. Small-scale studies suggested this form of intermittent fasting helped people lose weight, but a comprehensive new study concludes otherwise, reports the New York Times . The yearlong study out of...

Wildflower Called 'Extinctus' Has Been Rediscovered

Living specimens were found in tiny patch of surviving rainforest in Ecuador

(Newser) - Gasteranthus extinctus, a South American wildflower that got its Latin name after botanists thought it was already extinct, might have to be renamed Gasteranthus vivus. Researchers say the flower was seen for the first time in nearly 40 years during a search of intact patches of primary rainforest in western...

Medieval &#39;Riches&#39; Found Under Notre Dame&#39;s Floor
'Riches' Found Inches Below
Notre Dame's Floor Slabs
in case you missed it
Apr 17, 2022 11:05 AM CDT

'Riches' Found Inches Below Notre Dame's Floor Slabs

Sarcophagus, fragments of original rood screen are 'extraordinary'

(Newser) - There's an upside to rebuilding after a fire , as archaeologists at France's Notre Dame cathedral have discovered. In preparation for the monument's new spire, to replace the one burned in 2019, workers will build 100-foot-high scaffolding. But before they do, officials asked archeologists to perform a "...

Dumpster Diver Discovers Major Art Treasure
Dumpster Diver Discovers
Major Art Treasure
in case you missed it
Apr 16, 2022 8:15 AM CDT

Dumpster Diver Discovers Major Art Treasure

Lucky auto mechanic is now a huge fan of abstract expressionist Francis Hines

(Newser) - Acting on a tip from a contractor in 2017, auto mechanic Jared Whipple retrieved a bunch of dirt-covered artworks from a dumpster, which was filled with materials from an abandoned barn in nearby Watertown. The haul included hundreds of pieces, including paintings, sculptures, and small drawings. Whipple later learned they...

'Really Amazing Artifact' Found at Jesus' Supposed Crucifixion Site

Medieval altar would've stood at apex of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

(Newser) - A medieval altar, apparently long forgotten, has been rediscovered at the supposed site of Jesus Christ's crucifixion. Recent excavations on Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified , buried, and resurrected, revealed a large stone slab, "pressed against a wall...

Fear Alone Takes Toll on Wildlife Populations


Fear of
Predators
Takes Surprising
Toll on Animals
new study
Apr 11, 2022 11:22 AM CDT

Fear of Predators Takes Surprising Toll on Animals

Study with sparrows suggests it affects multiple generations

(Newser) - If an animal species lives in an area where it's surrounded by predators, you wouldn't expect to see robust population growth. But what if the animals just think they're surrounded by predators? Turns out, the same applies, according to a new study out of Canada's Western...

New Finding Baffles Physicists
'Something Fundamental'
May Be Off in Physics
NEW study
Apr 7, 2022 4:41 PM CDT

'Something Fundamental' May Be Off in Physics

New finding about key particle baffles Fermi scientists

(Newser) - The grand explanation physicists use to describe how the universe works may have some major new flaws to patch after a fundamental particle was found to have more mass than scientists thought. “It’s not just something is wrong,” said Dave Toback, a particle physicist at Texas A&...

We Finally Have a Complete Map of the Human Genome

Researchers finish work that first emerged about 20 years ago

(Newser) - Scientists say they have finally assembled the full genetic blueprint for human life, adding the missing pieces to a puzzle nearly completed two decades ago, per the AP . An international team described the first-ever sequencing of a complete human genome—the set of instructions to build and sustain a human...

Collector's Reaction to 'Utterly Unique' Medal: 'Holy [Expletive]'

Only gold Daniel Morgan at Cowpens Medal, minted in 1839, could go at auction for up to $500K

(Newser) - In 1839, the Philadelphia Mint created a single gold medal in tribute to the courage shown by Revolutionary War Gen. Daniel Morgan at 1781's Battle of Cowpens . The medal was minted to replace the original given to Morgan, after that one was stolen in an 1818 robbery at a...

Here&#39;s How Vampire Bats Got a Taste for Blood
Here's How Vampire Bats
Got a Taste for Blood
NEW STUDY
Mar 28, 2022 9:10 AM CDT

Here's How Vampire Bats Got a Taste for Blood

There are 13 genes that are missing or no longer work in vampire bats

(Newser) - Scientists have figured out why vampire bats are the only mammals that can survive on a diet of just blood. They compared the genome of common vampire bats to 26 other bat species and identified 13 genes that are missing or no longer work in vampire bats, reports the AP...

Only Whaler Known to Go Down in Gulf Found 190 Years Later

Find sheds light on 'how people of color succeeded as captains and crew members'

(Newser) - Roughly 15 years before Herman Melville introduced the world to Moby Dick, a whaling ship from Massachusetts sank near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Nearly 190 years later, experts say, it’s still the only whaler known to have gone down in the Gulf of Mexico, where the threat...

Man Whose Paralysis Extends to His Eyes Can Communicate
Completely Locked-In Patient
Manages to Communicate
new study
Mar 23, 2022 10:30 AM CDT

Completely Locked-In Patient Manages to Communicate

Researchers used brain implants that allowed him to select one letter every minute

(Newser) - The New York Times describes Dr. Ujwal Chaudhary and Dr. Niels Birbaumer as "dumbstruck" by the outcome of an experiment they conducted in 2020. It's an understandable reaction. Then colleagues at the University of Tuebingen in Germany, the men employed brain implants that allowed a then-34-year-old patient with...

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