discoveries

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

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Scientists Identify Potential Lupus Breakthrough
Scientists Identify Potential
Lupus Breakthrough
new study
Jul 10, 2024 1:12 PM CDT

Scientists Identify Potential Lupus Breakthrough

Researchers say findings could lead to 'potential cure'

(Newser) - US researchers say they have uncovered what NBC News describes as a "root cause" of the autoimmune disease lupus. If the findings out of Northwestern Medicine and Brigham and Women's Hospital are borne out in future research, they hold promise for a "potential cure," says Jaehyuk...

Better Way to Diagnose Autism May Lie in the Gut
Better Way to Diagnose
Autism May Lie in the Gut
new study
Jul 9, 2024 12:27 PM CDT

Better Way to Diagnose Autism May Lie in the Gut

Study suggests children on the spectrum have unique microbial markers

(Newser) - Diagnosing autism remains a tricky, subjective task, one that relies largely on observation and analysis. A new study suggests that might change in a big way—with future patients diagnosed through a stool sample, reports the Guardian . A study of more than 1,600 children ages 1 to 13 found...

We Aren&#39;t the Only Species to Save Lives With Amputations
It Turns Out
That Ants Can
Amputate, Too
NEW STUDY
Jul 5, 2024 8:56 AM CDT

It Turns Out That Ants Can Amputate, Too

Medic Carpenter ants do the same thing as humans, researchers say

(Newser) - Just like humans, ants benefit from living in a group. Studies have shown some ants carry wounded colony members back from battle and lick their wounds, for a 90% survival rate . Now, new research indicates carpenter ants go a step further, carrying out life-saving amputations on their wounded brethren. It'...

Termite 'Apartment Complex' Has Been Busy for 34K Years

'We knew they were old, but not that old,' South African researcher says

(Newser) - Scientists in South Africa have been stunned to discover that termite mounds that are still inhabited in an arid region of the country are more than 30,000 years old, meaning they're the oldest known active termite hills. Some of the mounds near the Buffels River in Namaqualand were...

It&#39;s the Oldest Figurative Cave Art Known to Exist
It's the Oldest Figurative
Cave Art Known to Exist
NEW STUDY
Jul 4, 2024 12:00 PM CDT

It's the Oldest Figurative Cave Art Known to Exist

Painting dated to 51.2K years ago is also the earliest evidence of modern humans in Wallacea

(Newser) - The oldest figurative cave art in the world has been discovered in Indonesia. Dated to 51,200 years ago, almost 6,000 years older than the previous oldest cave art just 6 miles away, the poor-condition art shows at least three humanlike figures, or human-animal hybrids, with a wild pig,...

Salamander-Like Giant Predated Dinosaurs
This Beast
Lived Before
the Dinosaurs
new study
Jul 3, 2024 3:55 PM CDT

This Beast Lived Before the Dinosaurs

Discovery in Namibia has scientists rethinking what we know about tetrapods

(Newser) - Scientists have revealed fossils of a giant salamander-like beast with sharp fangs that ruled waters before the first dinosaurs arrived, per the AP . The predator, which was larger than a person, likely used its wide, flat head and front teeth to suck in and chomp unsuspecting prey, researchers said. Its...

Hippos Can Get Airborne


Turns Out,
Hippos
Can Fly
(Sort Of)
new study
Jul 3, 2024 1:30 PM CDT

Turns Out, Hippos Can Fly (Sort Of)

Study reveals that the heavy beasts get all four feet off the ground while trotting

(Newser) - The word "aerodynamic" wouldn't typically come to mind in regard to hippos, but a new study suggests that maybe it should. Researchers found that a hippopotamus trotting at full speed does indeed achieve "brief aerial phases," as they write in the journal PeerJ . That's not...

Alaskan Glaciers Are Melting at &#39;Incredibly Worrying&#39; Pace
Amid Alaskan Glaciers,
a Possible 'Death Spiral'
NEW STUDY
Jul 3, 2024 10:25 AM CDT

Amid Alaskan Glaciers, a Possible 'Death Spiral'

Researchers say Juneau Ice Field saw ice melt in 2010 to 2019 at double the rate it had previously

(Newser) - Since the late 1700s, the Juneau Ice Field, interconnected glaciers that stretch across 1,500 square miles of Alaska and British Columbia, has lost about a quarter of its volume. But it's an "incredibly worrying" phenomenon that took place between 2010 and 2020 that has scientists especially concerned:...

Dinosaurs' Extinction May Have Been the Birth of Wine

Plant that gave rise to commercial grapes spread in dense forests after asteroid impact

(Newser) - Had an asteroid not struck the planet some 66 million years ago, dinosaurs might still exist—but there would potentially be no wine. According to researchers, grapes might have originated only after the Chicxulub impact transformed the environment, wiping out 76% of all living species, per IFL Science . "We...

Sorry, but Daily Multivitamins Won&#39;t Stretch Your Life
Daily Multivitamins May
Raise Risk of Early Death
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 30, 2024 7:03 AM CDT

Daily Multivitamins May Raise Risk of Early Death

Just slightly, per researchers, but they're also finding that consuming them doesn't help, either

(Newser) - Think those multivitamins you pop daily will stave off disease and extend your life span? Scientists now say not only does that not seem to be the case, but that taking multivitamins on the regular could actually up the risk of a premature demise. Per Medical Daily , 1 in 3...

Gray Whales Appear to Be Shrinking



Gray Whales
Appear to Be
Shrinking
new study
Jun 25, 2024 4:28 PM CDT

Gray Whales Appear to Be Shrinking

Researchers studying them in the Pacific Northwest see change over recent decades

(Newser) - Researchers studying gray whales in the Pacific Northwest are worried about an unmistakable trend among the creatures—they're shrinking, and at a pretty fast rate, according to a study published in Global Change Biology .
  • Smaller: Whales in this group born after 2000 are about 5 feet, 5 inches shorter
...

On Monkey Island, It&#39;s Now Survival of the Nicest
On Monkey Island, It's
Now Survival of the Nicest
new study
Jun 24, 2024 11:11 AM CDT

On Monkey Island, It's Now Survival of the Nicest

Study suggests macaques off Puerto Rico getting along better after hurricane, out of necessity

(Newser) - A strange thing happened on Monkey Island after a massive hurricane ripped through: The usually quarrelsome monkeys became nicer to each other, a new study in Science suggests. As it turns out, it was a matter of survival, the BBC explains. Monkey Island is the nickname given to Cayo Santiago,...

On the Alzheimer's Front, 'New Avenues' Have Opened

Research suggests rare gene mutation helps delay onset of disease's symptoms in some individuals

(Newser) - Researchers have hit upon a genetic quirk that seems to delay onset of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease—sometimes for years, or even decades. "It opens new avenues," says neuropsychologist Yakeel Quiroz of Massachusetts General Hospital, a lead author of the new study published Wednesday in the...

In a First, Astronomers Watch a Black Hole Wake Up
In a First, Astronomers
Watch a Black Hole Wake Up
NEW STUDY
Jun 19, 2024 10:30 AM CDT

In a First, Astronomers Watch a Black Hole Wake Up

Black hole at center of galaxy SDSS1335+0728 recorded activating 'in real time'

(Newser) - A bright light erupting from a distant galaxy nearly five years ago was, in the view of researchers, way cooler than it sounds. Indeed, it was the first ever observation of the awakening of a black hole, according to a study accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics . Most galaxies...

Woman's $3.99 Thrift Store Find Is Priceless Mayan Artifact

Vase purchased in Maryland is actually ceremonial urn dating back 2K years

(Newser) - Five years ago, Anna Lee Dozier was browsing the shelves of the 2A Thrift Store in Clinton, Maryland, when she stumbled upon an interesting find in the clearance section. "It looked old-ish, but I thought maybe 20, 30 years old and some kind of tourist reproduction thing, so I...

Southernmost Polar Bears Await the Death Knell
Southernmost
Polar Bears Await
the Death Knell
NEW STUDY
Jun 18, 2024 10:20 AM CDT

Southernmost Polar Bears Await the Death Knell

Populations in Canada's Hudson Bay to disappear by 2060s, according to new research

(Newser) - The world's southernmost polar bears could disappear within years due to warming temperatures, a bad omen for the rest of their brethren, researchers warn in a new report. Polar bears have long found a home on Canada's Hudson Bay, the largest northern inland sea, whose shallow waters freeze...

Recently Discovered Papyrus Details a 5-Year-Old Jesus

It's a brief, 'clumsy' letter, but researchers say it's oldest known copy of gospel about Jesus as a child

(Newser) - Experts in ancient documents have discovered the oldest known copy of a gospel detailing Jesus' childhood, text originally written some 200 years after his death. The manuscript itself, a passage from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which lies outside the accepted canon of Scripture, is dated to the fourth or...

Wreck That Ended the &#39;Heroic Age of Exploration&#39; Is Found
Long-Lost Shackleton
Vessel Is Found
Jun 12, 2024 12:00 PM CDT

Long-Lost Shackleton Vessel Is Found

Quest, the last ship helmed by the adventurer, is discovered off Canada's east coast

(Newser) - Though not as famous as Ernest Shackleton's Endurance, one of the most sought-after shipwrecks in the world before its 2022 discovery , the sunken ship on which the Antarctic explorer made his final voyage has now been discovered, too. Quest, on which Shackleton suffered a fatal heart attack while trying...

On Island of Crete, an 'Extremely Interesting' Find

Archaeologists unearth 4K-year-old building from Minoan civilization; airport project may be disrupted

(Newser) - A big, round, 4,000-year-old stone building discovered on a Crete hilltop is puzzling archaeologists and threatening to disrupt a major airport project on the Greek tourist island. Greece's Culture Ministry said Tuesday the structure is a "unique and extremely interesting find" from Crete's Minoan civilization, famous...

Elephants Seem to Call Each Other by Name
'Name' Discovery Surprises
Elephant Researchers
new study
Jun 10, 2024 2:19 PM CDT

'Name' Discovery Surprises Elephant Researchers

Study suggests the animals call each other by name via low rumblings

(Newser) - A new study suggests a remarkable trait of elephants: They appear to call each other by distinct names, which would be a first in the animal kingdom outside humans, reports the New York Times . Researchers studying elephants at two national reserves in Kenya suggest that the animals voice the names...

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