5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

The back story to women's longevity and the consequences of mixing alcohol and weed make the list:

• Why Women Live Longer Than Men: Death rates for men and women were similar before 1840, but women began outliving men after that as diet and health care improved. Why? Scientists say heart disease in particular seems to seems to be holding men back the most, and weight distribution might be a reason whey they're more susceptible.
• '80s Metalheads Turned Out Pretty Great: Heavy metal was the No. 1-selling music genre in 1989, and parents feared the worst: that Satan worship, drug use, loads of sex, and suicide went along with it, researchers say in a new study. So how did those metalheads, now in middle age, turn out? Their parents shouldn't have worried.
• Here's What Happens When You Mix Pot, Booze: Is it a worse idea to use marijuana and alcohol together than alone? A study has answered that question for what scientists say is the first time. It turns out that those who indulge in both simultaneously have a strikingly higher risk for way more than just an aching head in the morning.

• Physicist Unearths Key Detail About Iconic WWII Photo: Though the official announcement that World War II ended wasn't made until almost 7pm on Aug. 14, 1945, a scientific assessment of the famous photo "VJ Day in Times Square" showing a couple kissing in celebration reveals the duo actually locked lips before then—at 5:51pm Eastern, to be precise. How scientists figured this out is fascinating, and it was all right in front of them.
• Pluto Revealing Some Secrets: The not-quite-a-planet is getting ready for its closeup in a NASA flyby, but already scientists have discerned some interesting patterns on Pluto's surface. How does a doughnut, a whale, and a heart sound?

Click to read about more discoveries, including a virus that seems to have jumped from squirrels to humans. (More discoveries stories.)