discoveries

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

Stories 781 - 800 | << Prev   Next >>

His Ancient Find Was 'Too Good to Be True.' Maybe Not

Inside new research on what one scholar says is a precursor to the Book of Deuteronomy

(Newser) - Biblical scholar Idan Dershowitz started a fellowship at Harvard's Society of Fellows in 2017 , and he sent emails to its chairman about a theory he had about 15 manuscript fragments found more than a century ago. The response he got: "You're crazy, I don't want to...

In UK, a Fireball in the Sky, Sonic Boom, and a 'Shock' Find

First meteorite in 30 years is found on a driveway

(Newser) - Experts say a rare chunk of space rock, believed to contain the most primitive material in the solar system, is in such good shape that it's comparable to samples returned from space missions. But this one didn't come to Earth under careful conditions. Instead, it fell from the...

Researchers Discover Animal That Can Shed Its Whole Body

It's the ultimate case of regeneration

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered the ultimate case of regeneration: Some decapitated sea slugs can regrow hearts and whole new bodies. Biology researcher Sayaka Mitoh explains the genesis of the study published in Current Biology on Monday: She saw something bizarre in her lab one day. A sea slug had decapitated itself...

You&#39;re Probably Talking Too Long
You're Probably 
Talking Too Long
new study
Mar 7, 2021 4:39 PM CST

You're Probably Talking Too Long

New study finds that most people think conversations should have ended sooner

(Newser) - Dread small talk at parties, back when such things existed? If so, a new study may shed light on why. It turns out almost everyone is lousy at knowing when to end a conversation, reports Science . In most cases, people report the chats go on too long, say researchers in...

Dental Scanner Reveals Contents of Sealed Letter From 1697
Researchers Read
Sealed Letter From 1697
Without Opening It
in case you missed it
Mar 7, 2021 2:05 PM CST

Researchers Read Sealed Letter From 1697 Without Opening It

'We've learned that letters can be a lot more revealing when they are left unopened'

(Newser) - In 1697, a man wrote to a merchant in the Netherlands to request a copy of an official death certificate for his cousin. The tightly folded letter has never been opened, but researchers have managed to read its contents without breaking the seal by using a high-resolution X-ray scanner designed...

How to Make a Mummy: Oldest Manual Yet Is Found

It dates back to Egypt from around 3.5K years ago

(Newser) - A doctoral student in Denmark has uncovered the oldest instruction manual on mummification to date. Sofie Schiodt of the University of Copenhagen deciphered a papyrus from ancient Egypt that goes back about 3,500 years, reports CNET . The papyrus is a medical text of sorts, and the section on embalming...

Nobody Had Seen One of These in 170 Years

Black-browed babbler was feared to be extinct

(Newser) - It's not extinct, just very elusive. That's the takeaway from the discovery of a bird in Indonesia that has ornithologists downright emotional. The bird is the black-browed babbler, which hadn't been seen since the 1840s, reports Mongabay . Two men caught one in a Borneo rainforest and sent...

Britain&#39;s &#39;Greatest Murder Mystery&#39; May Be Solved
Britain's 'Greatest Murder
Mystery' May Be Solved
new study
Feb 27, 2021 4:20 PM CST

Britain's 'Greatest Murder Mystery' May Be Solved

Study lends weight to theory that Richard III killed 'the princes in the tower'

(Newser) - It is, writes historian Tim Thornton, "probably the greatest murder mystery in British history." Just who killed the young brothers who came to be known as the "princes in the tower"? A new study by Thornton cements the idea that the leading suspect is indeed guilty—...

Art Historians Solve a Mystery of &#39;The Scream&#39;
Mystery of Inscription
on 'The Scream' Is Solved
in case you missed it
Feb 27, 2021 7:00 AM CST

Mystery of Inscription on 'The Scream' Is Solved

Art historians says Edvard Munch wrote the 'madman' line himself

(Newser) - Art historians in Norway say they've cracked the mystery about who scrawled a small inscription on Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream." And the culprit was Munch himself, according to their new analysis, reports the BBC . The penciled words in the upper left corner of the painting,...

Barnacles May Hold Clues in Lost-at-Sea Searches
Barnacles May Hold Clues
in Lost-at-Sea Searches
NEW STUDY
Feb 26, 2021 12:44 PM CST

Barnacles May Hold Clues in Lost-at-Sea Searches

Researchers say Lepas anserifera can reveal debris drift times and patterns

(Newser) - Never underestimate barnacles. According to researchers in Australia, they might just help in tracing people lost at sea. Species of the Lepas anserifera genus of goose barnacle are among the most common found in biofouling, a fancy word for the buildup of organisms on a surface, and "play an...

Man's Best Friend May Have Accompanied Him to New World

Finding is based on oldest known remains of an American dog

(Newser) - Researchers have stumbled upon the oldest domesticated dog remains found in the Americas, which suggests man's best friend may have accompanied the first humans to the "New World." Mitochondrial DNA from the canine femur fragment found along the southeastern Alaskan coast shows its owner lived about 10,...

Genghis Khan's Death May Be Less Sexy Than the Legends

New study suggests he was felled by bubonic plague

(Newser) - All kinds of legends exist to explain the death of Mongol ruler Genghis Khan 800 years ago—a poisoned arrow, perhaps? But a new study puts forth an explanation that will sound pretty familiar to people today. That is, a pandemic did him in. As Live Science reports, researchers studying...

Girl With Rapunzel Syndrome Ends Up Needing Surgery

Teen had 19-inch-long hairball that burst through her stomach

(Newser) - A teen with two rare conditions ended up in the hospital after passing out twice, and she left one huge hairball lighter. Live Science reports on the case out of the UK, where a 17-year-old girl showed up at the hospital after her fainting spells, her face and head bruised...

Metal Panel Found in 1991 Could Hold Earhart Clues

It'll be tested using a nuclear reactor

(Newser) - The quest to discover what happened to Amelia Earhart has turned to ... a nuclear reactor. Popular Mechanics reports scientists at Penn State University are focusing not on Earhart herself but her plane, a Lockheed Model 10-E Electra. In 1991, longtime Earhart searcher Ric Gillespie found an aluminum panel on the...

Dinosaur Killer Gets a New Origin Story
Scientists Offer New Theory
on Dinosaurs' Demise
in case you missed it
Feb 20, 2021 7:00 AM CST

Scientists Offer New Theory on Dinosaurs' Demise

Think speedy, long-range comet, not an asteroid from closer to Earth

(Newser) - From the dinosaurs' perspective, not much has changed. Scientists still think an enormous chunk of rock slammed into Earth and triggered a cataclysmic explosion that wiped them out. However, a new study out of Harvard changes the theory about the origins of that space rock, reports NPR . The researchers say...

Pharaoh Who Risked His Life 'to Liberate Egypt' Died Horribly

Study suggests a bound Seqenenre Tao was attacked on all sides

(Newser) - The death of Seqenenre Tao is said to have indirectly led to the reunification of ancient Egypt, which was divided during the pharaoh's lifetime in the 16th century BC. Only now do we know what exactly that death entailed. Researchers studying the mummy of the pharaoh, first discovered in...

Bones Cast 'Rare Flicker of Light' on Early Christianity

But they do not belong to St. James the Younger as long thought

(Newser) - It appears Rome's Santi Apostoli church doesn't have the bones of two of Jesus' 12 apostles after all—but perhaps it does have one. LiveScience reports the church has since the 6th century believed it possessed remains belonging to St. James the Younger and St. Philip. A study...

New Weight Loss Drug May Be Like No Other
New Weight Loss Drug
May Be Like No Other
in case you missed it
Feb 14, 2021 9:35 AM CST

New Weight Loss Drug May Be Like No Other

Semaglutide's results suggest it could be a game-changer

(Newser) - We may have a game-changer when it comes to obesity drugs. The results of a clinical trial involving taking higher doses of Novo Nordisk's Type 2 diabetes drug semaglutide as an anti-obesity medication were published Wednesday, and they're staggeringly good: Those who injected it weekly for a little...

Bones of &#39;Robin Hood of the Sea&#39; May Be Found
Bones of Legendary
Pirate May Have Been Found
in case you missed it
Feb 14, 2021 6:30 AM CST

Bones of Legendary Pirate May Have Been Found

Experts hope to identify the 'Robin Hood of the Sea'

(Newser) - Experts may be close to identifying the remains of a legendary pirate whose treasure-filled ship went down off the coast of Cape Cod 300 years ago. At least six skeletons were pulled recently from the Whydah Gally and are now being examined by the man who in 1984 discovered the...

The Air in Subway Stations Is as Bad as You Think
The Air in Subway Stations
Is as Bad as You Think
new study
Feb 10, 2021 12:55 PM CST

The Air in Subway Stations Is as Bad as You Think

Study finds NYC has particularly high air pollution

(Newser) - All those Salesforce employees in New York City who are giving up the commute for good may have more reasons than one to be glad about it. A study published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives looked at the quality of the air during AM and PM rush hours...

Stories 781 - 800 | << Prev   Next >>