New Discoveries: Reports on the Latest Scientific Discoveries - Page 230

Study Says

Oct 24, 2013 3:25 PM CDT

Men Are Worse at Multitasking

Women perform better in new study

(Newser) - Women have a distinct edge when it comes to juggling problems, a new study has concluded. Researchers had 120 men and 120 women each complete a computer test, first giving them the tasks one at a time, and then mixing them up, forcing participants to tackle them in a fragmented...

Even Barnacles Eating
Our Plastic Trash

new study

Oct 24, 2013 1:57 PM CDT

Even Barnacles Eating Our Plastic Trash

33% of barnacles in study had ingested a microplastic

(Newser) - Today's most unfortunate number: 267. That's the number of marine species that have been found to have eaten plastic, and a new study zeroes in on one such species— barnacles. Researchers traveled to the North Pacific Gyre (better known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch ) with a...

Arctic Hasn't Been
This Warm in 44K Years

Oct 24, 2013 1:14 PM CDT

Arctic Hasn't Been This Warm in 44K Years

Maybe even far longer, according to new study

(Newser) - The Arctic's current warming trend is the worst it's experienced in at least 44,000 years—and possibly even longer—a new study has concluded. Scientists examining vegetation in the Canadian Arctic found recently-exposed moss that, based on radiocarbon dating, was between 44,000 and 51,000 years...

Newly Found Galaxy
Is Oldest One Yet

Oct 23, 2013 4:54 PM CDT

Newly Found Galaxy Is Oldest One Yet

It emerged about 700 million years after the Big Bang

(Newser) - Residents of the Milky Way, meet z8_GND_5296. That's the not-so-great name of a newly discovered galaxy that just happens to be the most distant—and thus oldest—ever spotted, reports CBS News . Scientists say it formed a mere 700 million years after the Big Bang, and it could shed...

Scientists Find Gold
in Eucalyptus Trees

Oct 22, 2013 3:24 PM CDT

Scientists Find Gold in Eucalyptus Trees

Discovery could be used by miners searching for the metal

(Newser) - Money may not grow on trees, but gold might grow in them. Such is the fascinating conclusion of a group of Australian researchers who studied eucalyptus trees in two groves in the country's west and south. The specific locations were chosen because the scientists knew there was gold in...

New Theory:
Memories Change
When Remembered

Oct 20, 2013 12:21 PM CDT

New Theory: Memories Change When Remembered

Study reconciles competing theories

(Newser) - Think back to your fondest memory. If a group of Johns Hopkins University researchers are right, you just changed that memory forever. They've developed a new theory about the nature of memory that could resolve a longstanding debate about the issue, Scientific American explains. They believe that memories are...

2nd 'Sea Serpent'
Washes Ashore

Oct 20, 2013 8:30 AM CDT

2nd 'Sea Serpent' Washes Ashore

Rare 14-foot oarfish found in Southern California

(Newser) - When it rains mysterious "sea serpents" in Southern California, it apparently pours: Days after a snorkeler happened upon an 18-foot oarfish —a snake-like fish usually found in waters 3,000 feet deep—a second specimen washed up on the beach in Oceanside, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune . The...

After Dream, Archaeologists Hunt for Gold in India

Oct 19, 2013 8:09 AM CDT

After Dream, Archaeologists Hunt for Gold in India

Guru believes there's more than 1K tons under palace

(Newser) - That archaeologists are exploring what was buried in the ground where a palace once stood in northern India is fairly mundane news—except that they're on the hunt for more than 1,100 tons of gold ... that a guru dreamed is located there. The dig began yesterday at the...

Deadliest Known Toxin
Found—but No Antidote

Deadliest Known Toxin Found—but No Antidote

Scientists withholding DNA sequence for now

(Newser) - It sounds like a sci-fi thriller plot, except this is very much fact instead of fiction: Scientists in California have found a new strain of botulinum toxin—the deadliest toxin known to man—but they still haven't come up with an antidote, reports New Scientist . As a result, they'...

5 Most Incredible
Discoveries of the Week

Oct 19, 2013 6:01 AM CDT

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

A really long fish and a really old building make this week's list

(Newser) - From a sea creature that looks deadly, to a toxin that is deadly, this week saw some wild discoveries:

Crazy Ocean Discovery: 18-Foot Serpent-Like Fish : A marine science instructor snorkeling off the Southern California coast spotted something out of a fantasy novel: the silvery carcass of an 18-foot-long, serpent-like oarfish.

...

Small Chance Big Asteroid Could Hit Earth in 2032

Oct 18, 2013 8:50 AM CDT

Small Chance Big Asteroid Could Hit Earth in 2032

Chance of impact a low 1 in 63,000

(Newser) - As far as chances go, it's a lot more likely that an asteroid named 2013 TV135 will smash into our planet in 2032 than it is that you'll win Powerball . But before you panic, know that the chances are still quite slim: one in 63,000; NASA says...

1.8M-Year-Old
Skull Alters Tale
of Human History

Oct 18, 2013 7:57 AM CDT

1.8M-Year-Old Skull Alters Tale of Human History

'Jaw-dropping' find points to single species spreading from Africa

(Newser) - Many scientists have argued that several different species of human ancestors spread from Africa—but a 1.8 million-year-old skull and the fossilized remains of four other creatures seem to tell a different story. The scientists who found the bones at Dmanisi, in the country of Georgia, in 2005 say...

Scientists Reconstruct
520M-Year-Old
Nervous System

Oct 17, 2013 3:58 PM CDT

Scientists Reconstruct 520M-Year-Old Nervous System

Mega-claw's brain fossilized, looks like a spider's

(Newser) - Scientists digging through old fossils have identified a 520-million-year-old mega-claw with an almost completely preserved nervous system—the oldest such find ever, the LA Times reports. The specimen belongs to the Alalcomenaeus family, which is part of a larger group of "megacheirans," meaning roughly "mega-claw" or "...

Early Stonehenge Menu:
Roasted Toad

Oct 16, 2013 3:39 PM CDT

Early Stonehenge Menu: Roasted Toad

Archeologists find clues about diet in earlier site about a mile away

(Newser) - Frog legs may be a delicacy in France, but early Brits apparently came up with the idea first: An archeological dig about a mile from Stonehenge has turned up a cooked leg bone from a toad, reports the AP . "We ate frogs legs before the French," trumpets the...

Search for
Earhart's Plane
to Resume

Oct 16, 2013 1:31 PM CDT

Search for Earhart's Plane to Resume

Group plans new Pacific expedition

(Newser) - The search is back on: The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery is returning to the Pacific island of Nikumaroro next year to hunt for wreckage from Amelia Earhart's plane, reports NBC News . TIGHAR has already undertaken several expeditions at the site, where it believes Earhart and navigator Fred...

Crazy Ocean Discovery:
18-Foot Serpent-Like Fish

Oct 15, 2013 3:41 PM CDT

Crazy Ocean Discovery: 18-Foot Serpent-Like Fish

Snorkeler spots oarfish carcass near California's Catalina Island

(Newser) - A marine science instructor snorkeling off the Southern California coast spotted something out of a fantasy novel: the silvery carcass of an 18-foot-long, serpent-like oarfish. Jasmine Santana of the Catalina Island Marine Institute needed more than 15 helpers to drag the giant sea creature to shore over the weekend. Staffers...

Jurassic Park-esque
Find: Blood-Filled
Mosquito Fossil

Oct 15, 2013 10:52 AM CDT

Jurassic Park-esque Find: Blood-Filled Mosquito Fossil

But don't expect dinosaurs anytime soon

(Newser) - OK, so the mosquito is only 46 million years old—too recent to have sucked dinosaur blood. But for the first time in history, scientists have found a fossilized skeeter that's still got a belly full of blood, harkening back to the plot of Jurassic Park, the Smithsonian points...

Arch-Enemy
of Movie Ads:
Popcorn

study says

Oct 14, 2013 5:05 AM CDT

Arch-Enemy of Movie Ads: Popcorn

Chewing it prevents us from mouthing brand names: study

(Newser) - Want armor against an onslaught of advertising? Just chew some popcorn, a study suggests. Eating the stuff during movie ads leaves viewers "immune" to the cravings those ads might otherwise inspire, researchers say. That's because, as the Guardian reports, we typically subtly mouth brand names each time we...

How We Recognize:
By Body Shape

study says

Oct 13, 2013 2:10 PM CDT

How We Recognize: By Body Shape

Study: We don't rely on faces to pick out far-off friends

(Newser) - We hear plenty about facial recognition technology, whether on Facebook or at the FBI—but it turns out we humans are pretty good at spotting individuals based on their bodies, too. That may be why we can pick out a friend in a distant crowd, Popular Science reports. In a...

Surprise: Iceland's Strange Pillars Formed by Lava

STUDY SAYS

Oct 13, 2013 6:10 AM CDT