discoveries

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

Stories 1281 - 1300 | << Prev   Next >>

A Rod, a Shadow, and a Theory for Egypt's Almost- Perfect Pyramids

Archaeologist thinks it could be tied to the fall equinox

(Newser) - Scientists have long puzzled over how the ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza (aka the Pyramid of Khufu) with such "extreme precision," per Live Science . This Wonder of the World is lined up with the compass points "with an accuracy of better than four minutes...

Bones of Fearsome Pirate May Have Been Found

Remains pulled from the wreckage of the Whydah Gally will be tested

(Newser) - When the Whydah Gally went down in a 1717 storm 144 lives were lost —none so noteworthy as that of Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy. The New England Historical Society describes the pirate as infamous, but not infamously cruel: As historian Colin Woodard puts it, he followed a credo...

Women's Paternal Grandmas May Be Tied to This Type of Cancer

Women's risk for ovarian cancer may be passed down from the father's side of the family

(Newser) - Sons inherit a baldness gene from their moms, and now scientists are pointing to another parent-child link on the opposite side. Per the BBC , fathers can pass down a gene mutation to their daughters that can raise the risk of ovarian cancer, per a study published Thursday in Plos Genetics ...

6 Hairs in Library Book Came From Famous Head

That would be George Washington

(Newser) - You don't expect a hair-raising discovery to come from a book of population estimates for the American colonies, especially one with the boring title of "Gaines Universal Register or American and British Kalendar for the Year 1793." Yet buried in the volume kept on a library shelf...

For Those on 10% More 'Ultra-Processed' Food, Up Go Cancer Numbers

Scientists say they need to do a lot more research, though

(Newser) - Those snack cakes and chicken nuggets may be tasty, but they may also be upping your chances of cancer, according to a new study out of Sorbonne Paris Cite University. The research published in BMJ looked at the consumption of "ultra-processed" foods—the BBC has a list of edibles...

These Might Be the Only Non-Human War Medics

Researchers observe Matabele ants licking wounded warriors back to health

(Newser) - A species of African ant lives a life so fierce that it's become expert at wartime triage. In fact, the behavior exhibited by Matabele ants marks the first time that non-humans have been observed "systematically nursing their wounded back to health," per National Geographic . Researchers lay it...

&#39;Cheddar Man&#39;s&#39; DNA Reveals Surprise About Early Brits
'Cheddar Man's'
DNA Reveals
Surprise About
Early Brits
In Case You Missed It
Feb 10, 2018 6:09 PM CST

'Cheddar Man's' DNA Reveals Surprise About Early Brits

The earliest modern Brits had 'dark to black' skin

(Newser) - Think of a stereotypical Brit and you may imagine a pale cast member from Downton Abbey. A new study, however, shows early modern Brits from 10,000 years ago, who migrated from Europe over a land bridge into England, may not have been quite as pale as many of their...

9 'Cocktail'-Infused Eggs a 'Breakthrough' for Fertility

For the first time, human eggs were grown from earliest stages to maturity in the lab

(Newser) - What's being deemed a "breakthrough" for women's fertility has been achieved out of the University of Edinburgh. Researchers say that for the very first time, they've developed human eggs in the lab from their earliest points of growth to full maturity, offering insight into how science...

Spike in Suicides Followed Death of Robin Williams

Researchers can't prove his suicide caused copycats, but the numbers did rise after he died

(Newser) - The world was shocked by the August 2014 death of Robin Williams , but "middle-aged men in despair" may have taken his suicide especially hard, Reuters notes. For a study published Wednesday in Plos One , researchers sifted through CDC data from 1999 through 2015 and found that there was a...

Study Links Food Compound to Spread of Cancer

Asparagus may be cancer's favorite vegetable

(Newser) - Making big changes to your diet could deprive cancer of a nutrient that it needs to spread throughout the body, researchers say. A study published in the journal Nature links asparagine—an amino acid found in many foods, including asparagus, beef, poultry, nuts, and potatoes—to the spread of secondary...

Neanderthals Expertly Made Tools Still in Use Today

These were no dummies, say researchers in Italy

(Newser) - Modern hunter-gatherers used "digging sticks," crafted from wood, to search for edible roots and tubers, as well as to hunt. It's a tradition that stretches back at least 171,000 years, according to a new PNAS study. Digging in Italy, scientists have uncovered 58 wooden tools—including...

'It's a Whodunit, and We Don't have the Answer'

Stone tools in India suggest earlier human exit from Africa, maybe

(Newser) - Just a week after scientists reported evidence that our species left Africa earlier than we thought, another discovery is suggesting the date might be pushed back further. Homo sapiens arose in Africa at least 300,000 years ago and left to colonize the globe. Scientists think there were several dispersals...

Mayan Civilization Has Been &#39;Grossly Underestimated&#39;
Mayan Civilization
Has Been 'Grossly
Underestimated'
NEW RESEARCH
Feb 2, 2018 7:57 AM CST

Mayan Civilization Has Been 'Grossly Underestimated'

60K structures, including a pyramid, revealed in Guatemala

(Newser) - Only a handful of ancient Mayan temples rise above a dense jungle of trees in Guatemala. But what's obscured by the thick foliage, revealed for the first time, is evidence of a sprawling civilization to rival ancient Greece or China. Using LiDAR technology (Light Detection And Ranging), which measures...

Sahara Desert Reveals 'Holy Grail' of Dino Discoveries

African dinosaur suggests link to Europe in late Cretaceous Period

(Newser) - Researcher Matt Lamanna calls it "the Holy Grail" of dinosaur discoveries. After decades of digging had left a 44-million-year gap in the fossil record for dinos in Africa, Lamanna says his jaw "hit the floor" when he saw photos of skull fragments, a lower jaw, neck and back...

Forensic Linguist Solves a Jack the Ripper Mystery

Confirms 2 iconic early letters were written by same person

(Newser) - It's a Jack the Ripper mystery solved. Unfortunately that's "a" mystery, not "the" mystery. A forensic linguist with the UK's University of Manchester says that after learning no forensic linguistic analysis had been carried out on any of the letters purportedly written by the infamous...

Wreck of Ship Carrying Rich Southerners Possibly Found

Boiler explosion caused Pulaski to sink in 1838

(Newser) - It was "the Titanic of its time." A luxury steamboat carrying some of the wealthiest and most high-profile families in the Southeast exploded while traveling from Savannah, Ga., to Baltimore, Md. on June 13, 1838. Half of the roughly 200 people aboard the Pulaski died—including whole families...

In Collapsed Cave, Remarkably Old Human Fossil Discovered

2002 find suggests modern humans may have left Africa 100K years earlier than thought

(Newser) - A fossil found in Israel indicates modern humans may have left Africa as much as 100,000 years earlier than previously thought. Scientists say that an ancient upper jawbone and associated stone tools could also mean that Homo sapiens—modern humans—arose in Africa far earlier than fossils now show....

One of Dead Sea Scrolls' Last Puzzles Is Cracked

Researchers decipher fragments of ancient coded text

(Newser) - Israeli researchers say they have deciphered one of the last remaining puzzles of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It turns out the ancient authors of this particular section were writing about the changing of the seasons and the calendar they used to mark and celebrate such occasions, reports the Catholic News...

Dogs Eat Poop, and You Might Not Be Able to Stop Them

Scientific name for this habit: canine conspecific coprophagy

(Newser) - Before you freak out that your dog may be suffering from canine conspecific coprophagy, know that it's probably not that serious—though you will likely be grossed out. Scientific American reports on a study in the Veterinary Medicine and Science journal that looked at the result of two web-based...

Has a Centuries-Old Aztec Mystery Been Solved?
Has a Centuries-Old
Aztec Mystery Been Solved?
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 21, 2018 12:40 PM CST

Has a Centuries-Old Aztec Mystery Been Solved?

An epidemic that killed millions could have been due to salmonella, per a new study

(Newser) - Can the teeth of 10 people solve a centuries-old mystery? According to a study published Monday in Nature Ecology and Evolution , perhaps. Its authors suggest that an epidemic that killed as many as 17 million people over the course of two outbreaks in the 16th century and had a hand...

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