discoveries

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

Stories 961 - 980 | << Prev   Next >>

Biggest Mass Die-Off of Seabirds Blamed on 'the Blob'

Huge mass of warm water killed 1M along US West Coast, says study

(Newser) - The name is a little jokey, but the consequences were not: Scientists are blaming the deaths of an estimated 1 million seabirds on the US West Coast on a giant patch of warm water they call "the Blob." Researchers think that amounts to the biggest mass die-off of...

New Machine Helps Livers Survive, Regenerate Outside Body

This could be a huge breakthrough in transplant technology

(Newser) - The liver is an amazing organ—the only internal one capable of regenerating itself—and researchers in Switzerland have come up with an invention almost as impressive. A machine they've been working on since 2015 keeps livers alive outside the human body for up to a week, instead of...

Study Finds Surprising Trait of Parrots: Kindness
A Parrot Experiment
Surprises Researchers
NEW STUDY
Jan 10, 2020 10:13 AM CST

A Parrot Experiment Surprises Researchers

African greys selflessly help other birds

(Newser) - Parrots help their friends, even when there's no chance of personal benefit, according to a study suggesting altruism is more common than thought in the animal kingdom. Indeed, African grey parrots were found to voluntarily help a neighbor get a food reward even as they went without. The behavior...

E-Scooters Are Everywhere. With That, a Disturbing Trend

Number of injury cases has tripled over 5-year period

(Newser) - An "explosion" of electric scooter riders has led to a more disturbing (but maybe not surprising) spike. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the number of injuries caused by the two- or three-wheeled vehicles tripled in five years' time, per a study published in the JAMA Surgery journal. Researchers...

Study of Auto Plant Closures Finds a Double Whammy

Researchers found an association between closure, increased opioid death rate

(Newser) - The closure of an auto plant may do more than just depress an area's economy. A study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine surfaces an association between such closures and a rise in opioid deaths. Specifically, in counties where assembly plants had shuttered five years prior, the opioid overdose...

A Consequence of Empty Buildings? Bigger Mosquitoes
Poor Neighborhoods Have
an Unusual Health Threat
new study
Dec 30, 2019 10:30 AM CST

Poor Neighborhoods Have an Unusual Health Threat

Study finds they have bigger mosquitoes

(Newser) - A new study out of Baltimore highlights an unusual health threat: Low-income neighborhoods with abandoned buildings have bigger mosquitoes. Researchers found this to be the case after an extensive block-by-block comparison in Baltimore, they report in the Journal of Medical Entomology . Bigger mosquitoes breed more, bite more, and live longer,...

Exercise May Cut Risk of 7 Cancers
Study Suggests Big Benefit
of Regular Exercise
new study
Dec 27, 2019 10:44 AM CST

Study Suggests Big Benefit of Regular Exercise

Researchers see a reduced risk of 7 types of cancer

(Newser) - A new study might provide an extra nudge to get off the couch after the holidays: Researchers found that regular exercise reduces the risk of seven cancers, reports NBC News . The study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests that people who follow general exercise guidelines of 2.5 to...

Want to Live Longer? Go to a Concert or Art Gallery
New Proof of 'How
Powerful the Arts Are'
NEW STUDY
Dec 24, 2019 10:25 AM CST

New Proof of 'How Powerful the Arts Are'

Researchers say engaging in art, music, theater can lower risk of dying early

(Newser) - It doesn't seem like a stretch to say most people feel pretty good after a stimulating afternoon at the museum or rousing Broadway production. Now, research out of University College London suggests that exposing oneself to the arts—be it going to museums, art galleries, concerts, the opera, or...

Scientists Stumble On World&#39;s Oldest Forest
Scientists Stumble On
World's Oldest Forest
new study
Dec 21, 2019 4:30 PM CST

Scientists Stumble On World's Oldest Forest

Scientists find ancient trees just north of Manhattan

(Newser) - Earth's three trillion trees do a lot for us—make life possible, really—but how did they ever get started? Well, look no further than New York state. Scientists say they've found the world's oldest known forest in an abandoned quarry a couple hours north of Manhattan,...

Mexico May Have Found 2 More of Conquistador's Anchors

They were buried in sediment near the spot where Hernan Cortes scuttled his ships

(Newser) - Two more 16th-century anchors have been found at the spot where conquistador Hernan Cortes is believed to have scuttled his ships, experts said Monday. Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History said that while the anchors can't be positively IDed as belonging to Cortes' fleet, they appear to...

This Cave Art May Be a Game Changer
This Cave
Art May Be
a Game Changer
new study
Dec 12, 2019 11:21 AM CST

This Cave Art May Be a Game Changer

Depiction of hunt in Indonesia could date back 44K years, the oldest one yet

(Newser) - The history of art just got an update. A large cave drawing in Indonesia has been dated back 44,000 years, which would make it the oldest known cave art in existence. But that date would also make it "the oldest pictorial record of storytelling and the earliest figurative...

In the World of Orcas, Grandmothers Are Key
In the World of Orcas,
Grandmothers Are Key
new study
Dec 10, 2019 8:37 AM CST

In the World of Orcas, Grandmothers Are Key

They help calves survive, especially when food is scarce, says new study

(Newser) - Researchers studying killer whales have made a discovery unusual in the animal kingdom: Grandmothers rock. That is, older female orcas make a big difference when it comes to the survival of their grandchild calves, according to the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Orcas are one...

Long-Sought WWI Wreck Is Found, Guns at the Ready

German ship SMS Scharnhorst was sunk off Falkland Islands in 1914

(Newser) - It was an "extraordinary" moment as the long-sought shipwreck appeared a mile beneath the waves, says the search team's leader. "Suddenly she just came out of the gloom with great guns poking in every direction," Mensun Bound says of the discovery of SMS Scharnhorst, a German...

Hair Dye-Cancer Link: 'The Results Do Not Surprise Me'

Government study finds tie between permanent hair dye, chemical straighteners and breast cancer

(Newser) - A government study involving nearly 50,000 US women has found a link between those who use permanent hair dyes and chemical straighteners and an increased risk of breast cancer, Fox News reports. Research by scientists with the National Institutes of Health, published in the International Journal of Cancer , involved...

Mountain Lions May Have Unusual Enemy&mdash;Fog
Mountain Lions May Have
Unusual Enemy—Fog
new study
Dec 3, 2019 10:30 AM CST

Mountain Lions May Have Unusual Enemy—Fog

Scientists say mercury-laden fog results in dangerously high levels in California pumas

(Newser) - It's not the type of predator that turns up in nature shows. But researchers in California say fog—yes, fog—poses a threat to mountain lions, reports Smithsonian . The reason? The marine fog in the Santa Cruz Mountains carries mercury, and that neurotoxin settles on the ground and works...

This Pup Is 18K Years Old
This Pup Is 18K Years Old
new study
Dec 2, 2019 12:12 PM CST

This Pup Is 18K Years Old

But it's not clear whether it's a dog or wolf that was found in Siberian permafrost

(Newser) - Daww. Melting permafrost in Siberia has revealed a well-preserved pup who was born about 18,000 years ago. In fact, the little guy still has his teeth, limbs, nose, whiskers, and eyelashes, reports the Siberian Times . The big question still unanswered: whether he's a dog or a wolf. The...

Centuries-Old Manuscript Has a Surprising Author

Queen Elizabeth I's messy handwriting was the big giveaway, historian says

(Newser) - In what the Daily Express is calling a "royal bombshell," a centuries-old manuscript recently unearthed in a UK library turns out to have been penned by someone rather unexpected. The 42-page text, a translation of a book by the Roman historian Tacitus, has taken up residence at London'...

Alarm Over Jupiter&#39;s Great Red Spot? Unnecessary
Alarm Over Jupiter's
Great Red Spot? Unnecessary
new research
Nov 27, 2019 10:20 AM CST

Alarm Over Jupiter's Great Red Spot? Unnecessary

Researchers say it's not going anywhere

(Newser) - "We feel confident that the sky is not falling"—quite literally. So says Philip Marcus, a professor of fluid mechanics at the University of California, Berkeley. He's part of a team that looked into the potential fate of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and determined it's...

Oysters Only in 'R' Months? Advice May Go Back 4K Years

Researchers say the practice was in play off Georgia's coast long ago

(Newser) - Anyone who indulges in wild oysters has surely heard the advice: Eat them only in months with an R. In other words, skip them during the summer. Now, researchers from the Florida Museum of National History have found evidence that the practice was in play more than 4,000 years...

Discovery Points to Invisible 'Fifth Force' of Nature

Researchers in Hungary spot a mysterious proton

(Newser) - They're calling it X17—and it might help solve a great mystery of nature. Scientists in Hungary say they've twice stumbled on the previously unknown particle while seeking evidence of a "fifth force" guiding our visible universe, CNN reports. "X17 could be a particle, which connects...

Stories 961 - 980 | << Prev   Next >>