discoveries

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

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'Really Amazing Artifact' Found at Jesus' Supposed Crucifixion Site

Medieval altar would've stood at apex of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

(Newser) - A medieval altar, apparently long forgotten, has been rediscovered at the supposed site of Jesus Christ's crucifixion. Recent excavations on Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified , buried, and resurrected, revealed a large stone slab, "pressed against a wall...

Fear Alone Takes Toll on Wildlife Populations


Fear of
Predators
Takes Surprising
Toll on Animals
new study
Apr 11, 2022 11:22 AM CDT

Fear of Predators Takes Surprising Toll on Animals

Study with sparrows suggests it affects multiple generations

(Newser) - If an animal species lives in an area where it's surrounded by predators, you wouldn't expect to see robust population growth. But what if the animals just think they're surrounded by predators? Turns out, the same applies, according to a new study out of Canada's Western...

New Finding Baffles Physicists
'Something Fundamental'
May Be Off in Physics
NEW study
Apr 7, 2022 4:41 PM CDT

'Something Fundamental' May Be Off in Physics

New finding about key particle baffles Fermi scientists

(Newser) - The grand explanation physicists use to describe how the universe works may have some major new flaws to patch after a fundamental particle was found to have more mass than scientists thought. “It’s not just something is wrong,” said Dave Toback, a particle physicist at Texas A&...

We Finally Have a Complete Map of the Human Genome

Researchers finish work that first emerged about 20 years ago

(Newser) - Scientists say they have finally assembled the full genetic blueprint for human life, adding the missing pieces to a puzzle nearly completed two decades ago, per the AP . An international team described the first-ever sequencing of a complete human genome—the set of instructions to build and sustain a human...

Collector's Reaction to 'Utterly Unique' Medal: 'Holy [Expletive]'

Only gold Daniel Morgan at Cowpens Medal, minted in 1839, could go at auction for up to $500K

(Newser) - In 1839, the Philadelphia Mint created a single gold medal in tribute to the courage shown by Revolutionary War Gen. Daniel Morgan at 1781's Battle of Cowpens . The medal was minted to replace the original given to Morgan, after that one was stolen in an 1818 robbery at a...

Here&#39;s How Vampire Bats Got a Taste for Blood
Here's How Vampire Bats
Got a Taste for Blood
NEW STUDY
Mar 28, 2022 9:10 AM CDT

Here's How Vampire Bats Got a Taste for Blood

There are 13 genes that are missing or no longer work in vampire bats

(Newser) - Scientists have figured out why vampire bats are the only mammals that can survive on a diet of just blood. They compared the genome of common vampire bats to 26 other bat species and identified 13 genes that are missing or no longer work in vampire bats, reports the AP...

Only Whaler Known to Go Down in Gulf Found 190 Years Later

Find sheds light on 'how people of color succeeded as captains and crew members'

(Newser) - Roughly 15 years before Herman Melville introduced the world to Moby Dick, a whaling ship from Massachusetts sank near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Nearly 190 years later, experts say, it’s still the only whaler known to have gone down in the Gulf of Mexico, where the threat...

Man Whose Paralysis Extends to His Eyes Can Communicate
Completely Locked-In Patient
Manages to Communicate
new study
Mar 23, 2022 10:30 AM CDT

Completely Locked-In Patient Manages to Communicate

Researchers used brain implants that allowed him to select one letter every minute

(Newser) - The New York Times describes Dr. Ujwal Chaudhary and Dr. Niels Birbaumer as "dumbstruck" by the outcome of an experiment they conducted in 2020. It's an understandable reaction. Then colleagues at the University of Tuebingen in Germany, the men employed brain implants that allowed a then-34-year-old patient with...

Utah Just Nabbed Its First Wolverine

Creature never before caught in the state is fitted with a GPS collar

(Newser) - Wolverines are notoriously reclusive creatures in the state of Utah, with only eight confirmed sightings over the last 40 years or so, per Smithsonian . Utah's wolverines, though, might be about to give up their secrets, thanks to the first-ever capture of one of the animals there. State wildlife officials...

Sinkhole on Arctic Seafloor Could Hold a City Block
Huge Sinkholes
Are Forming on
Arctic Seafloor
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 19, 2022 6:30 AM CDT

Huge Sinkholes Are Forming on Arctic Seafloor

Permafrost is melting beneath the ocean, as on land: researchers

(Newser) - Melting permafrost has been wreaking havoc on the Arctic landscape, triggering ground collapses that leave deep holes in the earth. Now we have evidence that the same thing is happening under the ocean. Large sections of permafrost, or permanently frozen ground, were submerged as glaciers melted around the end of...

New Giant Tortoise Species Discovered in Galapagos
Giant Tortoise Species
Is 'New to Science'
NEW STUDY
Mar 14, 2022 12:35 PM CDT

Giant Tortoise Species Is 'New to Science'

It was mistakenly believed to be a now-extinct Galapagos species, researchers say

(Newser) - Researchers believe they have discovered a new species of giant tortoise in the Galapagos Islands, which is news they'd be happier about if it didn't also mean that another species has apparently gone extinct. Scientists who analyzed genetic material from museum samples discovered that samples brought back from...

Massive Impact Crater Is Almost as Old as the Dinosaurs
Dating of Impact Crater
Was Off by 55M Years
in case you missed it
Mar 13, 2022 4:35 PM CDT

Dating of Impact Crater Was Off by 55M Years

Crater under Greenland glacier likely formed 58M years ago: study

(Newser) - The 19-mile-wide impact crater hiding under a glacier in Greenland isn't just among the world’s largest . At 58 million years old, it's also among the most ancient, forming just 8 million years after the asteroid strike on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula wiped out the dinosaurs, according...

'We Have Made Polar History': The Endurance Is Found

Incredibly well-preserved shipwreck discovered some 10K feet down in Weddell Sea

(Newser) - Ernest Shackleton wrote that his ship the Endurance sank in "the worst portion of the worst sea" in 1915. Now, more than a century later, its wreckage has been found some four miles from where the ship's captain believed it went down. "We have made polar history...

First Octopus Arrived Before the First Dinosaur
Octopus That Predated
Dinos Is Named After Biden
new study
Mar 8, 2022 5:00 PM CST

Octopus That Predated Dinos Is Named After Biden

Newly dated 'Syllipsimopodi bideni' fossil goes back 330M years

(Newser) - Scientists have found the oldest known ancestor of octopuses—an approximately 330 million-year-old fossil unearthed in Montana. The researchers concluded the ancient creature lived millions of years earlier than previously believed, meaning that octopuses originated before the era of dinosaurs, per the AP . The 4.7-inch fossil has 10 limbs—...

Lost Continent Explains a 34M-Year-Old Extinction
Lost Continent Explains
a 34M-Year-Old Extinction
NEW STUDY
Mar 7, 2022 2:55 PM CST

Lost Continent Explains a 34M-Year-Old Extinction

Researchers discover Balkanatolia, an ancient island turned land bridge

(Newser) - About 34 million years ago, native fauna disappeared from Western Europe, as mammals from Asia took over. The extinction, known as the Grande Coupure or "great break," might as well have been called the great puzzle. For decades, researchers have been unable to explain how animals from eastern...

Amazon Rainforest May Need a New Name
Amazon Rainforest
May Need a New Name
new study
Mar 7, 2022 12:08 PM CST

Amazon Rainforest May Need a New Name

Researchers say it's on track to become a savannah

(Newser) - Young people today may see the Amazon rainforest shift into the Amazon savannah in their lifetimes. That's the takeaway of an alarming new study in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change, reports USA Today . Researchers examined month-to-month satellite images of the rainforest from the last 20 years and concluded...

King Tut's Dagger Came From Outer Space—and Also Syria

Blade was forged of iron long before the start of the Iron Age

(Newser) - King Tut had a sweet dagger. Of course, the young king also had a sweet wardrobe, chariots, shrines, and a horde of other treasures, all discovered in the early 1900s along with his famous mummy. Still, the dagger has always been the source of much conjecture. And it’s not...

Our &#39;Nearest Black Hole&#39; Isn&#39;t a Black Hole at All
Our 'Nearest Black Hole'
Isn't a Black Hole at All
NEW STUDY
Mar 2, 2022 12:37 PM CST

Our 'Nearest Black Hole' Isn't a Black Hole at All

New research indicates 'vampire' star is feeding on its neighbor

(Newser) - European astronomers have put out something of a retraction: that black hole said to be the closest to Earth ever found —well, it doesn't exist. They're not too bothered, however. European Southern Observatory emeritus astronomer Dietrich Baade, co-author of the new research, says their error led to...

'Winter Grab' Seeks to Solve a Great Lakes 'Puzzle'

Scientists from US, Canada try to figure out what happens under surface of lakes when frozen

(Newser) - More than a dozen scientific crews from US and Canadian universities and government agencies are venturing onto the frozen Great Lakes to help unravel the lakes' winter secrets. The field studies over the past few weeks—a collective effort known as the "Winter Grab"—are intended to boost...

Elephant Seals: Surprising Masters of 'Space and Time'

Researchers are impressed by their navigational skills

(Newser) - It may not be the first impression you get from looking at an elephant seal, but the creatures have what scientists describe as an uncanny "perception of space and time." The discovery is detailed in a new study in Current Biology . Researchers were trying to get a handle...

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