discoveries

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

Stories 1001 - 1020 | << Prev   Next >>

You&#39;re Going to Die. Good Luck Telling Your Brain
Your Brain Is Awesome
at Avoiding One Big Thing
in case you missed it
Oct 26, 2019 11:05 AM CDT

Your Brain Is Awesome at Avoiding One Big Thing

Recognition that you're going to die

(Newser) - Researchers say they've discovered a nifty little trick of the brain—it tries really hard to present the illusion that death is something that happens to that other guy, not you. It seems to be a defense mechanism of sorts, say researchers at Israel's Bar Ilan University, per...

He Got Drunk Not Because He Drank, but Because He Ate

Man suffered from auto-brewery syndrome, which converted carbs to ethanol

(Newser) - For years after taking antibiotics in 2011 for a thumb injury, a previously active and healthy man says he suffered from depression, "brain fog," memory loss, and aggressiveness. Then, after a DWI arrest, those around him, including medical staff and cops, became convinced he was a secret drinker—...

Snorkeling Seniors Reveal Surprise About Deadly Snakes

'Fantastic grandmothers' document large population in popular New Caledonia bay

(Newser) - A particular bay in the French territory of New Caledonia is a popular swimming spot for locals and tourists alike. However, the swimmers at the Baie des Citrons in Noumea may not be thrilled to learn they've been sharing the water with a surprisingly large number of venomous sea...

They Dug Up Tower of London Floor and Found Skeletons

They're the first bones from the Tower to have been analyzed

(Newser) - It's been almost 50 years since human remains were unearthed in the Tower of London, reports Live Science , which makes the recent discovery of two skeletons a noteworthy one—for more reasons than one. The Telegraph reports on the find: of a woman who died between the ages of...

This Is the Loudest Bird. Just Ask His Girlfriend


Meet the
World's
Loudest
Bird
new study
Oct 22, 2019 10:50 AM CDT

Meet the World's Loudest Bird

The white bellbird hits 125.4 decibels

(Newser) - The male white bellbird has just earned the distinction of being the loudest bird on the planet. Just ask the female white bellbirds—the guys essentially scream in their faces at courting time. In fact, that's one of the surprises from the study. As the researchers delicately put it...

Meet the Fastest Ant in the World
Meet the Fastest
Ant in the World
new study
Oct 17, 2019 8:31 AM CDT

Meet the Fastest Ant in the World

Saharan desert ant moves at the equivalent of more than 400mph for humans

(Newser) - National Geographic compares it to a "tiny, glinting missile." The Guardian notes that the rate of its stride is more than 10 times faster than that of the fastest human, Usain Bolt. The hubbub is in honor of the Saharan silver ant, which researchers have just discovered...

20 Sealed Coffins Uncovered in Egypt

And nearby, evidence of funerary items produced on an 'industrial scale'

(Newser) - The colorful strokes, painted millennia ago, are still visible beneath a layer of dirt, which is partly why Egypt's antiquities ministry is celebrating the discovery of more than 20 ancient coffins as one of the "largest and most important" finds in the country in recent years. But the...

Lost Chapter of World's First Novel Found in Chest

Family has been holding it for nearly 300 years

(Newser) - The chest was opened. And suddenly, a chapter has been added to the oldest known version of what's considered to be the world's first novel . The original manuscript of the Tale of Genji—telling of the political and romantic life of Genji, the son of an ancient Japanese...

For Nobel Prize in Physics, a 3-Way Triumph

The work revolves around discovery of an exoplanet, 'discoveries in physical cosmology'

(Newser) - Three scientists have won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for their contribution to the understanding of the evolution of the universe and "Earth's place in the cosmos," a day after two Americans and one British scientist were bestowed the award for physiology or medicine . One half...

Driving Pancreatic Cancer: a &#39;Fungal Invasion&#39;
Driving Pancreatic
Cancer: a 'Fungal Invasion'
NEW STUDY
Oct 4, 2019 9:54 AM CDT

Driving Pancreatic Cancer: a 'Fungal Invasion'

Scientists say fungi move from gut to pancreas, significantly increase in number, spur tumor growth

(Newser) - An organ once deemed "sterile" may actually be teeming with fungi, and certain varieties there may be promoting cancer. New research in the journal Nature notes that even though it's already known bacteria is able to move from the gut to the pancreas, it wasn't clear whether...

All That Ocean Plastic? It Has an Unexpected Source

It doesn't all come from land-based sources

(Newser) - In 1984, 2009, and 2018, researchers made the trek to Inaccessible Island, which sits between Argentina and South Africa in the South Atlantic. They describe it as a "remote, uninhabited island ... that has a very high macrodebris load"—and that debris is what they were there for. In...

It Was Hanging in Her Kitchen. She Found Out It&#39;s Worth Millions
It Was Hanging
in Her Kitchen.
She Found Out It's
Worth Millions
in case you missed it
Sep 28, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

It Was Hanging in Her Kitchen. She Found Out It's Worth Millions

Elderly French woman's 'Christ Mocked' by Renaissance painter Cimabue could go for $6.6M

(Newser) - An elderly French woman had the painting hanging above a hot plate in her kitchen, thinking it was just an old piece of art. When she finally got curious enough to get it appraised, she found out it was indeed old—and extremely valuable. That's because, per an old-masters...

Study Has Jarring News for Drinkers of Premium Tea
Study Has Jarring News
for Drinkers of Premium Tea
new study
Sep 27, 2019 8:57 AM CDT

Study Has Jarring News for Drinkers of Premium Tea

Those fancy plastic bags deposit billions of microplastics into the cup, say researchers

(Newser) - What do you take in your tea? A little cream, a little sugar, and ... billions of microscopic pieces of plastic? That's the takeaway from a new study at Canada's McGill University, reports the BBC . The study involves only tea that comes in plastic tea bags, generally of the...

What&#39;s a Whale Worth? More Than You Might Think
What's a Whale Worth?
More Than You Might Think
new analysis
Sep 25, 2019 10:35 AM CDT

What's a Whale Worth? More Than You Might Think

Team of economists with the IMF do the math

(Newser) - Whales are actually cash cows, or so suggest economists with the International Monetary Fund. A team helmed by Ralph Chami took a look at the economic benefit provided by whales when it comes to carbon sequestration and ecotourism and arrived at a big figure: $2 million apiece. Their analysis hasn'...

Scientists Piece Together Hints of a Lost Continent
Scientists Piece Together
Hints of a Lost Continent
in case you missed it
Sep 21, 2019 3:16 PM CDT

Scientists Piece Together Hints of a Lost Continent

'Greater Adria' disappeared beneath Europe eons ago

(Newser) - A lost continent isn't quite as lost as it used to be. Scientists have painstakingly fit together clues spread across Europe to unravel the story of Greater Adria, reports Live Science . This continent was about the size of Greenland when it rammed into what's now southern Europe about...

Less Sinister Theory Emerges in Mystery Cuba Illnesses

Ailments coincided with increased fumigation for zika

(Newser) - A new study into the mysterious ailments that plagued US and Canadian diplomats in Cuba has come up with a theory far less sinister than a sonic attack. Researchers say fumigation for mosquitoes might be to blame, reports the Toronto Star . The study, commissioned by the Canadian government, found that...

The Universe May Have Just Lost a Couple of Billion Years

Latest research suggests it may be much younger than previously thought, but there are big caveats

(Newser) - The universe is looking younger every day, it seems. New calculations suggest the universe could be a couple of billion years younger than scientists now estimate, and even younger than suggested by two other calculations published this year that trimmed hundreds of millions of years from the age of the...

World's Most 'Bizarre' Science Discoveries Get Their Due

Among this year's Ig Nobel winners: a diaper-changing device, study on pizza as health food

(Newser) - Training surgeons is as easy as training dolphins or dogs—at least according to a study that Thursday earned a 2019 Ig Nobel, the annual Nobel Prize spoof that rewards weird, sometimes head-scratching scientific discoveries. This year's winners included, per the AP : Dutch and Turkish researchers who figured out...

Scientists' New Find Is Literally Shocking

New species of electric eel can deliver most powerful jolt of any animal

(Newser) - The electric eel just got more electric. A newly discovered species found in the Amazon can inflict an 860-volt jolt—the strongest of any animal, say researchers. How strong is that? Science reports you'd experience a jolt of up to 240 volts if you stuck a fork in a...

Deep-Sea Explorer Went as Low as You Can Go in 5 Oceans

Vescovo is now considering a space mission

(Newser) - The Molloy Deep, 3.4 miles below the surface of the Arctic Ocean, has two things in common with the South Sandwich Trench in the Southern Ocean: It's the deepest spot in that ocean, and Victor Vescovo is the only person who has ever been there. Vescovo, a 53-year-old...

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