discoveries

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

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175 Years After His Death, New Music From Chopin

Unknown waltz believed to have been penned by the composer discovered in New York

(Newser) - An unknown waltz believed to have been written almost 200 years ago by the legendary composer Frederic Chopin has been discovered in a New York museum. Robinson McClellan, a curator at the Morgan Library & Museum, came upon the music on a card bearing Chopin's name inside a vault...

Statues Buried in Cambodia Are a 'Remarkable Discovery'

A dozen centuries-old sandstone statues found at Angkor World Heritage Site

(Newser) - Archaeologists in Cambodia have unearthed a dozen centuries-old sandstone statues in a "remarkable discovery" at the Angkor World Heritage Site near the city of Siem Reap, authorities said Wednesday. The statues—depicting so-called "door guardians"—were discovered last week near the north gate leading to the 11th-century...

'Witches Marks,' Curses Cover This Historic Manor

20 eerie carvings, 100 burn marks discovered at England's Gainsborough Old Hall

(Newser) - A "staggering array" of markings said to ward off evil spirits and witches have been discovered lining the walls of a historic English manor, along with a curse against a former owner. William Hickman was an "astute and ruthless businessman" who, beginning in 1596, manipulated his authority as...

'Evidence Is Growing That Humans Are Not Drinking Alone'

Rejected male fruit flies are just some of the creatures in the natural world that consume alcohol

(Newser) - Even bugs get the blues, then drown their sorrows in booze. And they're not the only species besides humans: A new study reveals more on "nature's hidden happy hour," in which a "diverse coterie" of animals are revealed to take part in consuming the alcohol...

Mayan Capital City Has Been Hiding 'in Plain Sight'

Valeriana in southern Mexico reportedly features 6,764 buildings over 6.5 square miles

(Newser) - A presumed capital city of the Maya has been discovered "hidden in plain sight" under vegetation in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. The hidden complex—showing evidence of pyramids, amphitheaters, sports fields, and causeways connecting districts—is made up of three sites in the southeastern state of Campeche, per...

Why Do We Smooch? There's a 'Final Kiss Hypothesis'

It refers to a grooming technique of great apes

(Newser) - It is, quite possibly, the least romantic definition of a kiss in the annals of history, one that describes the kisser kissing the kissee "with protruding lips and sucking action to latch on and remove a parasite or debris." But that description in Evolutionary Anthropology may go a...

He Was Thrown in a Well 800 Years Ago. Now He's Out

Medieval text logged his fate, and scientists think they've identified his remains in Norway

(Newser) - An ancient Norse text retelling the raid on a castle makes a passing reference to someone who didn't live to tell the tale: "They cast a dead man into a well, and then filled it up with stones," reads the 800-year-old Sveriss Saga. Now, scientists say they...

Researchers Find Ancient Surprise About Carbs
Researchers
Find Ancient
Surprise
About Carbs
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Oct 26, 2024 6:00 AM CDT

Researchers Find Ancient Surprise About Carbs

Our ability to digest them predates agriculture, may have played a role in bigger brains

(Newser) - Our love of carbs goes so far back that it predates the first humans, a new study suggests. What's more, our ability to digest carbohydrates—as opposed to the protein in meat—may have played a more important role than thought in the development of bigger brains, reports CNN...

In Mountains Along Silk Road, 'an Amazing Treasure Trove'

Lost high-altitude cities suggest medieval trade routes were more complicated than we knew

(Newser) - An archaeologist says "the history of Central Asia is now changing" with the discovery of two lost medieval cities, some three miles apart, in the mountains along the Silk Road, per the BBC . The Silk Road was a series of trade networks stretching from China to Venice, through which...

Former Nvidia Worker Makes Big Mathematical Find

Luke Durant says search for largest prime number shows GPUs can be used for more than AI

(Newser) - A researcher who used to work as a programmer for Nvidia has found the largest known prime number—and if he printed it out, it would be as long as 26 Bibles. The number—2 to the 136,279,841st power minus 1—contains 41,024,320 decimal digits, beating...

Ancient Meteorite Was a &#39;Fertilizer Bomb&#39;
Ancient Meteorite
Was a 'Fertilizer Bomb'
NEW STUDY
Oct 22, 2024 8:34 PM CDT

Ancient Meteorite Was a 'Fertilizer Bomb'

Researchers believe meteorite 3.26B years ago aided development of early life

(Newser) - The meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs was an insignificant chunk of rock compared to a monster that slammed into the Earth billions of years earlier, creating enough heat to boil off the top layer of the oceans, researchers say. The meteorite, known as S2, was up to 200 times...

Giant Fish Thought to Be Extinct Has Been Rediscovered

'Symbol of the Mekong region' has been spotted three times in the last few years

(Newser) - A huge fish in the Mekong River once thought to be extinct has been spotted three times in recent years. "The giant salmon carp is like a symbol of the Mekong region," says Chheana Chhut, a researcher at the Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute in Phnom Penh,...

Metal Detector Went Crazy, Found 2.5K Ancient Coins

And the stash is now worth $5.58M

(Newser) - Adam Staples knew he'd found something when his metal detector let out a beep. Soon "it was just 'beep beep, beep beep, beep beep,'" he recalls. In a farmer's field in southwest England, Staples and six friends had found a hoard of more than...

Answer to Our Lithium Demand May Lie in Arkansas
Answer to Our
Lithium Demand
May Lie in Arkansas
NEW STUDY
Oct 22, 2024 10:10 AM CDT

Answer to Our Lithium Demand May Lie in Arkansas

New research shows the state could have up to 19M tons buried in Smackover Formation area

(Newser) - The International Energy Agency has predicted that demand for lithium could grow by 40 times by 2040, and one US state in particular may be the solution to that demand. Researchers say that Arkansas could have between 5 million and 19 million tons of the chemical element, used in batteries...

Potential Depression Remedy: Brain Stimulation at Home

Study suggests patients can wear device to deliver a weak current

(Newser) - A new study suggests that people suffering from a bout of clinical depression might someday don a headset and administer a light electrical current to their brain to ease symptoms. Researchers say a clinical trial involving more than 170 people in the US and UK showed promise toward that end,...

Untouched Tomb to Tell Secrets of Mysterious Petra
At Petra, 'a Discovery of
Historic Proportions'
in case you missed it
Oct 19, 2024 6:00 AM CDT

At Petra, 'a Discovery of Historic Proportions'

Untouched tomb containing 12 skeletons could reveal secrets of the ancient site

(Newser) - One of the Seven Wonders of the World is still giving up its secrets. In what's being called "a discovery of historic proportions," researchers working around the Treasury monument in Petra, Jordan, have unearthed a tomb containing a dozen skeletons, apparently undisturbed for the past 2,000...

Viking Burial Ground Yields Clues to 10th Century

More than 50 skeletons in Denmark are incredibly well-preserved

(Newser) - In a village in central Denmark, archeologists made a landmark discovery that could hold important clues to the Viking era: a burial ground, containing some 50 skeletons. "This is such an exciting find because we found these skeletons that are so very, very well preserved," says archeologist...

A Big First: Communication Through Dreams

REMspace suggests people could accomplish real-life tasks, like starting a kettle, while asleep

(Newser) - A California-based sleep research startup believes the next groundbreaking advancement for humanity will be in accomplishing real-life tasks while asleep. And as it works toward that goal, REMspace is heralding a remarkable achievement: the first communication between two dreaming people, per Interesting Engineering . On Sept. 24, researchers observed two sleeping...

Scientists Unravel a Famous Painting&#39;s Magic
Scientists Unravel
a Famous Painting's Magic
in case you missed it
Oct 13, 2024 3:55 PM CDT

Scientists Unravel a Famous Painting's Magic

Brains of viewers of 'Girl With a Pearl Earring' light up as eyes bounce between focal points

(Newser) - Neuroscientists may have figured out why some viewers of Johannes Vermeer's "Girl With a Pearl Earring" become so entranced upon seeing it—especially the original. In their study, researchers had volunteers look at five paintings, as well as reproductions of the same paintings, while wearing contraptions that mapped...

Scientists: Brain Has Built-In Waste Removal System

Cleaning process could get rid of cellular trash that can build up, lead to dementia

(Newser) - A unique peek inside the human brain may help explain how it clears away waste like the kind that can build up and lead to Alzheimer's disease. Brain cells use a lot of nutrients, which means they make a lot of waste. Scientists have long thought the brain has...

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