discoveries

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

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'It's 9K Years Old and Everything Was Almost Intact'

Shrine discovered in Jordan desert

(Newser) - A team of Jordanian and French archaeologists said Tuesday that it had found a roughly 9,000-year-old shrine at a remote Neolithic site in Jordan's eastern desert. The ritual complex was found in a Neolithic campsite near large structures known as "desert kites," or mass traps that...

Dying Man's Brain Suggests Life Could Flash Before Our Eyes

87-year-old patient was hooked up to EEG machine at time of death

(Newser) - The last moments of a dying 87-year-old have raised something that researchers write in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience is "intriguing to speculate" about: that it's possible our life really could flash before our eyes as we die. They came to that conclusion somewhat accidentally. The patient...

Largest Known Jurassic Pterodactyl Is Found
Pterodactyl Find Is a
'Discovery of the Century'
NEW STUDY
Feb 22, 2022 2:54 PM CST

Pterodactyl Find Is a 'Discovery of the Century'

Fossil shows pterosaurs evolved huge wingspans much earlier than previously thought

(Newser) - Paleontologists are heralding the "discovery of the century" in Scotland: a fossil of a pterodactyl with a wingspan wider than a king-size bed. The fossil, some 70% complete, is not only the best-preserved of any pterosaur but the largest of any pterosaur to come from the Jurassic period, per...

2020 Rogue Wave Confirmed as 'Most Extreme' on Record

Proportionally speaking, it was a true monster

(Newser) - Rogue waves have gone from folklore to fact over the centuries, and now scientists say they've managed to confirm the "most extreme" ever on record. A rogue wave is a monster that is at least twice the height of those around it, and the 58-footer noted off British...

Mental Speed Slows at 20? Think Again
Our Brains Stay Sharp
Much Longer Than Thought
NEW STUDY
Feb 18, 2022 11:00 AM CST

Our Brains Stay Sharp Much Longer Than Thought

Study suggests mental acuity is largely unchanged until about age 60

(Newser) - Don't let the youngins tell you your brain is slower than molasses. Though plenty of research shows response times slow beginning around the age of 20, that doesn't necessarily support the widely held view that brain processes slow from that age. Indeed, a new study finds this slowing...

In a First, Woman May Have Been Cured of HIV

The process was similar to those the men who went before her underwent

(Newser) - Tuesday brought big news on the HIV front, this time involving a woman who scientists have possibly cured of the disease. NBC News reports she's the first woman in a group that now numbers at most four (two additional women may have been cured, but via their own immune...

&#39;Neanderthal Pompeii&#39; Upends Theories on Replacement by Humans
Cave Find 'Literally Rewrites
All Our Books of History'
in case you missed it
Feb 13, 2022 1:45 PM CST

Cave Find 'Literally Rewrites All Our Books of History'

Site repeatedly changed hands between Neanderthals, Homo sapiens

(Newser) - A cave in southern France that one researcher calls a Neanderthal Pompeii has upended theories about how our species replaced the earlier hominid species in Europe tens of thousands of years ago. Scientists had thought Homo sapiens arrived in western Europe around 40,000 and quickly wiped out the Neanderthals,...

Nuclear Fusion Feat Moves Us One 'Huge Step' Forward

Scientists manage to generate the biggest amount of energy ever from fusion

(Newser) - We are now "a huge step closer to conquering one of the biggest scientific and engineering challenges of them all," according to the CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority: developing "practical" nuclear fusion, as the BBC puts it. Nuclear fusion is the energy process that powers...

Only Humans Were Known to Do This&mdash;Until Now
Only Humans Were Known
to Do This—Until Now
NEW STUDY
Feb 8, 2022 11:17 AM CST

Only Humans Were Known to Do This—Until Now

Chimpanzees appear to self-medicate with insects: study

(Newser) - Officials with the Ozouga Chimpanzee Project at Loango National Park in Gabon first spotted a female chimp taking a tiny winged insect from her mouth and placing it in a wound on her son's foot in November 2019. She then removed the bug and repeated the process two more...

Orcas Can Kill the Largest Animal on Earth
Orcas Can Kill the
Largest Animal on Earth
in case you missed it
Feb 5, 2022 12:35 PM CST

Orcas Can Kill the Largest Animal on Earth

Scientists for the first time witness an orca pod kill a blue whale

(Newser) - It turns out the largest animal on the planet has a predator. Scientists have confirmed that a pod of orcas was able to kill and eat an adult blue whale, and what they observed was a gruesome scene. Per a paper published in Marine Mammal Science , scientists write that three...

Captain Cook's Legendary Ship May Be Found

Researchers bicker over confirmation of wreck off Rhode Island

(Newser) - The long-lost Endeavour, which Capt. James Cook used to sail the South Pacific while claiming New Zealand and Australia for Great Britain in 1770, has reportedly been found. Kevin Sumption, director of the Australian National Maritime Museum, announced Thursday that "the final resting place of one of the most...

After 24-Hour Treatment, Frogs Started Regrowing Lost Limbs
After 24-Hour Treatment, Frogs
Started Regrowing Lost Limbs
in case you missed it
Jan 30, 2022 4:05 PM CST

After 24-Hour Treatment, Frogs Started Regrowing Lost Limbs

Scientists say they triggered dormant regenerative abilities

(Newser) - Regeneration science has taken a big step—or hop—forward with an experiment that allowed frogs to regrow lost hind limbs. African clawed frogs lose their ability to regenerate limbs after they are tadpoles but scientists managed to get them to regrow a functional hind limb after a treatment that...

Dad&#39;s &#39;Life-Changing&#39; Find: England&#39;s Oldest Gold Coin
It's the 'Most Valuable Single
Coin Find in British History'
in case you missed it
Jan 29, 2022 7:00 AM CST

It's the 'Most Valuable Single Coin Find in British History'

Metal detectorist dad Michael Leigh-Mallory credits his kids

(Newser) - An Englishman whose children returned him to his love of metal detecting now plans to fund their educations with the proceeds from his most valuable find to date: England's oldest gold coin. "I used to be a keen metal detectorist but once I had a family the detector...

In Our &#39;Galactic Backyard,&#39; Signals Never Seen Before
'Spooky' Find Could
Be New Kind of Star
NEW STUDY
Jan 27, 2022 11:18 AM CST

'Spooky' Find Could Be New Kind of Star

Signals never observed before may point to ultra-long period magnetar

(Newser) - Something in our galaxy was emitting radio wave beams every 20 minutes, unlike anything observed before, and astronomers think they know what it is. "It's definitely not aliens," says Natasha Hurley-Walker, radio astronomer and lead author of a study on the mysterious object, published in the journal...

Giving Cash to Poor Moms May Help Babies&#39; Brains
Cash Aid to Moms May
Result in Smarter Babies
new study
Jan 25, 2022 11:29 AM CST

Cash Aid to Moms May Result in Smarter Babies

Study shows gains in development for infants

(Newser) - It's a study loaded with political implications—researchers say giving cash aid to low-income mothers appears to help the brain development of their babies. The New York Times reports the difference spotted after one year is modest, the equivalent of "moving to the 75th position in a line...

Whales Have a Unique Way to Avoid Choking
Whales Have a Unique
Way to Avoid Choking
new study
Jan 24, 2022 3:19 PM CST

Whales Have a Unique Way to Avoid Choking

Researchers say an 'oral plug' seals off airways from water during lunge feeding

(Newser) - Researchers say they've figured out what has long been a mystery about certain whales—how they keep from choking when taking in massive amounts of water while feeding. The answer? An "oral plug" at the back of their throats that shifts into place to seal off and protect...

New Technology Reveals Old Structures Near Machu Picchu

They may be the former homes of the keepers of the nearby site of Chachabamba

(Newser) - Long-ago visitors to the famed Incan citadel of Machu Picchu in Peru had to first pass through a ceremonial site known as Chachabamba less than 5 miles away along the Urubamba River. Discovered in the 1940s, Chachabamba consists of a main altar surrounded by 14 baths, where elites would’ve...

Rare Coral Reef Found in Deep Pacific Waters

It's in pristine shape off the coast of Tahiti

(Newser) - Deep in the South Pacific, scientists have explored a rare stretch of pristine corals shaped like roses off the coast of Tahiti. The reef is thought to be one of the largest found at such depths and seems untouched by climate change or human activities, per the AP . Laetitia Hé...

Tarantula Breeder's Call Led to Discovery of New Species

Of worm, that is

(Newser) - Having a new species of worm named after you may not seem like the highest honor, but in the case of Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi, it's a worm that comes with a cinematic edge. This particular species of nematode is a tarantula-killer, hence its name, which is a nod to the...

Scientists Looking for Wreck Find Life 6 Miles Below Sea
Scientists Looking
for Wreck Find Life
6 Miles Below Sea
in case you missed it
Jan 15, 2022 6:30 AM CST

Scientists Looking for Wreck Find Life 6 Miles Below Sea

Search for USS Johnston turns up deepest squid and jellyfish ever found

(Newser) - A dive last year to the depths of the Philippine Sea not only revealed a closer look at the deepest shipwreck ever , but signs of life few suspected to be hiding up to 6 miles beneath the waves. Days before researchers came across the presumed wreckage of the USS Johnston,...

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