discoveries

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

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Future Painkiller: Scorpion Venom?

Study sees potential applications as it can locate human pain receptors

(Newser) - Scorpion venom could someday turn from threat to therapy. Researchers in Australia are investigating the chemical properties of the stuff after collecting 1,500 of the poisonous critters and extracting their venom. "Because they have been isolated in Australia for so long, their venom is very different to the...

China's 'Great Wall' Wasn't Its First Great Wall

Archaeologist Gary Feinman is studying an even earlier one

(Newser) - As NPR tells it, archaeologist Gary Feinman was "simply walking around eastern China's Shandong province" on a hunt for pottery shards when he found something much, well, greater: a rammed earth wall that reached as high as 15 feet in places. That there had been a wall built...

Shock Treatment Zap Your Bad Memories
 Shock Treatment 
 Zaps Your Bad 
 Memories 
study says
Dec 29, 2013 9:12 AM CST

Shock Treatment Zaps Your Bad Memories

Netherlands researchers find success with electroshock therapy

(Newser) - Scientists are investigating a new way to combat bad memories, and so far, the results look promising. In the 1960s, researchers found that mice who were trained to fear a certain sound were able to forget that fear if shocked after hearing the noise. A new study points to a...

New Crime-Fighting Tool: Photos of Victims' Eyes?

We might see reflected images of the criminals, say researchers

(Newser) - Humans are extremely good at identifying faces, even when they're tiny—and that fact could help police solve future crimes. Researchers showed 32 participants high-resolution photo portraits of faces, and the participants were asked to identify people reflected in the subjects' pupils—often the photographer or someone standing next...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Astronomers may have found a moon unlike any other

(Newser) - Unprecedented discoveries in space (though this one isn't confirmed) and under the ice of Greenland highlight this week's list:
  • Astronomers May Have Found a Milestone Moon : Astronomers have found plenty of Earth-like planets out there in deep space, but so far they haven't found a moon orbiting
...

Astronomers May Have Found a Milestone Moon

It could be the first 'exomoon' detected around an exoplanet

(Newser) - Astronomers have found plenty of Earth-like planets out there in deep space, but so far they haven't found a moon orbiting one of them. Until now, maybe. Scientists might have detected one in orbit around a planet in the constellation Sagittarius, reports Nature . If so, it's the first...

This Is Earth&#39;s Hottest Pepper
 This Is Earth's Hottest Pepper 
Dec 27, 2013 7:35 AM CST

This Is Earth's Hottest Pepper

...according to Guinness, and it's grown in the US

(Newser) - The Carolina Reaper has taken the title of world's hottest pepper, after a four-year quest to do just that. The Guinness Book of World Records in November handed the honor to Ed Currie, who grows the fire-engine red peppers in South Carolina. The move followed 2012 testing at Winthrop...

Study Sees Link Between Concussions, Alzheimer's

Alzheimer-related brain protein found in some with previous concussion

(Newser) - If you've ever suffered a concussion, a new study suggests you may have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease—or not. Mayo Clinic researchers performed brain scans on 141 people in their 70s and 80s who had memory problems and 448 who didn't. Some 18% and...

Scientists Create Super-Strong Micro 'Muscle'

Vanadium dioxide-based device is super fast, and the size of a microchip

(Newser) - A team of government scientists has created a microchip-sized robotic muscle capable of throwing objects 50 times heavier than itself a distance five times longer than its length in less than 60 milliseconds. The key to this wonder device is a material called vanadium dioxide, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory...

Gifts Also Rule Animal Kingdom

They offer piggyback rides, share food

(Newser) - Many species of animals are just as into gift-giving as we are, though they may be better at avoiding that last-minute shopping rush. Often, the New York Times explains, the presents are tied to mating. "This is an incredibly cool and important topic in sexual selection that we’re...

Women May Get More Out of Flu Shots

Research suggests they may have stronger immune systems in general

(Newser) - Women react more strongly to flu vaccination than men, a new study has demonstrated, meaning they might be more protected against getting sick. Researchers examined the inflammatory responses of 53 women and 34 men after they got their flu shots, and found that men, particularly men with high testosterone, exhibited...

Big Find Under Greenland's Snow: 100B Tons of Water

Snow insulates it, keeping it liquid year-round, say researchers

(Newser) - As far as discoveries go, this one is literally huge: An aquifer holding more than 100 billion tons of water that covers an area larger than West Virginia has been discovered beneath Greenland's snow-covered ice sheet. And it caught the researchers who stumbled on it in 2011 off-guard, with...

Narcolepsy Breakthrough: It&#39;s Autoimmune
Narcolepsy Breakthrough:
It's Autoimmune
STUDY SAYS
Dec 22, 2013 7:04 AM CST

Narcolepsy Breakthrough: It's Autoimmune

Researchers find 'smoking gun' confirming long-held theory

(Newser) - A group of researchers has finally found evidence to confirm what many have long suspected: Narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease. The hypothesis has been swirling since 2009, when at least 900 children developed the chronic drowsiness disorder after being given a swine flu vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline, Scientific American and Reuters...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

From a French revolutionary to Antarctic gems

(Newser) - Doctors crack a medical cold case, while scientists spot diamonds in an unexpected place:
  • Revolutionary Robespierre Gets a Modern Diagnosis : The guillotine ended the life of French revolutionary Maximilien de Robespierre in 1794, but the 36-year-old might not have been long for this earth anyhow, a new study suggests.
  • Antarctica
...

&#39;Youth&#39; Chemical Reverses Muscle Aging in Mice
'Youth' Chemical Reverses 
 Muscle Aging in Mice 
STUDY SAYS
Dec 20, 2013 1:41 PM CST

'Youth' Chemical Reverses Muscle Aging in Mice

Research team wants to begin clinical trials in 2015

(Newser) - If you have a few unwanted wrinkles, this study may pique your interest: Harvard scientists reversed a part of the aging process in mice with a muscle-rejuvenating chemical the BBC dubs "youth-medication." The chemical, NAD, decreases in cells as the body ages, but when mice were given boosted...

Revolutionary Robespierre Gets a Modern Diagnosis

Doctors think he suffered from auto-immune disorder sarcoidosis

(Newser) - The guillotine ended the life of French revolutionary Maximilien de Robespierre in 1794, but the 36-year-old might not have been long for this earth anyhow, a new study suggests. Doctors think he suffered from an auto-immune disorder called sarcoidosis in which the body attacks its own tissues and organs, reports...

New Island Isn't Disappearing— It's Growing

And it gets a name: Niijima

(Newser) - An island that sprouted out of the Pacific thanks to an undersea volcanic eruption some 600 miles south of Tokyo last month might just be here to stay. Scientists initially guessed the new island would soon sink below the surface— Pakistan's newest island is doing just that—but satellite...

Watching a Lot of Traumatic News Jacks PTSD Risk

Poll follows Boston Marathon attack

(Newser) - It may be possible to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder without actually being present for a traumatic event, researchers say: Watching a lot of media coverage may heighten the risk of the disorder. Researchers surveyed 4,675 Americans two to four weeks after the Boston Marathon attack. About 4.5%...

New Birth Defect Risk: Dad&#39;s Vitamin Deficiency
 New Birth Defect Risk:
Dad's Vitamin Deficiency 
study says
Dec 15, 2013 8:19 AM CST

New Birth Defect Risk: Dad's Vitamin Deficiency

Father's lack of B9 jacks risk 28% in baby mice

(Newser) - Seems it's not just moms-to-be who need to watch what they eat. Men who don't get enough vitamin B9 may put their children at higher risk of birth defects, a study suggests. "It’s always put on the mother that it’s her health that determines the...

Newfound Greenhouse Gas 7K Times Worse Than CO2
Newfound Greenhouse Gas
7K Times Worse Than CO2
in case you missed it
Dec 14, 2013 1:23 PM CST

Newfound Greenhouse Gas 7K Times Worse Than CO2

And we've been using perfluorotributylamine for decades

(Newser) - Canadian researchers have detected another greenhouse gas—and its global warming potential is extreme. Over the course of a century, "a single molecule of PFTBA has the equivalent climate impact as 7,100 molecules of CO2," says a lead author of the study that identified perfluorotributylamine. "We...

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