discoveries

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

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&#39;Eagle Shark&#39; Swam in Ancient Seas
'Eagle Shark' Swam
in Ancient Seas
in case you missed it
Mar 21, 2021 2:54 PM CDT

'Eagle Shark' Swam in Ancient Seas

93-million-year-old shark would have resembled manta and devil rays

(Newser) - It swam slowly through the seas with a tail fin resembling those of modern sharks and side fins that stretched outward like the wings of modern birds. It's no wonder, then, that this bizarre creature, which died in what is now Mexico some 93 million years ago, has been...

Lab-Made 'Pre-Embryos' Could Revolutionize Research

Scientists say 'iBlastoids' could 'open up the field' of early human development

(Newser) - For the first time, scientists have used human cells to make structures that mimic the earliest stages of development, which they say will pave the way for more research without running afoul of restrictions on using real embryos. Two papers published Wednesday in the journal Nature detail how two teams...

New Dead Sea Scrolls Found in 60-Year First

IAA director says they are 'of immeasurable worth for mankind'

(Newser) - "The Cave of Horror" has given up a new wonder: the first fragments of the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls found in 60 years. Israeli archeologists have been combing the caves and ravines of the Judean Desert since 2017 in the hope of beating looters to relics preserved in the...

River Dredging Brings Up a Possibly Revolutionary Find

Artifacts discovered in Georgia, including cannons and anchor, could be from late-1700s warship

(Newser) - What was supposed to be a routine dredging in the Savannah River turned up a handful of artifacts that might date back to the Revolutionary War. The AP reports that three barnacle-encrusted cannons, a rusty anchor, and a big piece of wood that could be a piece of a ship...

Sherlock Holmes Got It Right on Memory


Researchers
Say Famous
Memory Trick
Works
in case you missed it
Mar 13, 2021 7:00 AM CST

Researchers Say Famous Memory Trick Works

Those who use 'method of loci,' aka 'memory palace,' fare better in memorization tests

(Newser) - Fans of Sherlock Holmes will likely be familiar with something called the "method of loci," notes Live Science . It's a device used by the famous detective to remember things, also called a "memory palace" or "mind palace." Now a new study in Science Advances ...

Scientists Closer to Solving Mysteries of Ancient Computer

Antikythera mechanism dates back 2K years, turned up in a shipwreck

(Newser) - Scientists say they've taken a huge step toward understanding how a remarkable device often referred to as the world's oldest computer actually worked. The 2,000-year-old "Antikythera mechanism" was a complex astronomical calculator used by the ancient Greeks, per the Guardian . But exactly how it would have...

His Ancient Find Was 'Too Good to Be True.' Maybe Not

Inside new research on what one scholar says is a precursor to the Book of Deuteronomy

(Newser) - Biblical scholar Idan Dershowitz started a fellowship at Harvard's Society of Fellows in 2017 , and he sent emails to its chairman about a theory he had about 15 manuscript fragments found more than a century ago. The response he got: "You're crazy, I don't want to...

In UK, a Fireball in the Sky, Sonic Boom, and a 'Shock' Find

First meteorite in 30 years is found on a driveway

(Newser) - Experts say a rare chunk of space rock, believed to contain the most primitive material in the solar system, is in such good shape that it's comparable to samples returned from space missions. But this one didn't come to Earth under careful conditions. Instead, it fell from the...

Researchers Discover Animal That Can Shed Its Whole Body

It's the ultimate case of regeneration

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered the ultimate case of regeneration: Some decapitated sea slugs can regrow hearts and whole new bodies. Biology researcher Sayaka Mitoh explains the genesis of the study published in Current Biology on Monday: She saw something bizarre in her lab one day. A sea slug had decapitated itself...

You&#39;re Probably Talking Too Long
You're Probably 
Talking Too Long
new study
Mar 7, 2021 4:39 PM CST

You're Probably Talking Too Long

New study finds that most people think conversations should have ended sooner

(Newser) - Dread small talk at parties, back when such things existed? If so, a new study may shed light on why. It turns out almost everyone is lousy at knowing when to end a conversation, reports Science . In most cases, people report the chats go on too long, say researchers in...

Dental Scanner Reveals Contents of Sealed Letter From 1697
Researchers Read
Sealed Letter From 1697
Without Opening It
in case you missed it
Mar 7, 2021 2:05 PM CST

Researchers Read Sealed Letter From 1697 Without Opening It

'We've learned that letters can be a lot more revealing when they are left unopened'

(Newser) - In 1697, a man wrote to a merchant in the Netherlands to request a copy of an official death certificate for his cousin. The tightly folded letter has never been opened, but researchers have managed to read its contents without breaking the seal by using a high-resolution X-ray scanner designed...

How to Make a Mummy: Oldest Manual Yet Is Found

It dates back to Egypt from around 3.5K years ago

(Newser) - A doctoral student in Denmark has uncovered the oldest instruction manual on mummification to date. Sofie Schiodt of the University of Copenhagen deciphered a papyrus from ancient Egypt that goes back about 3,500 years, reports CNET . The papyrus is a medical text of sorts, and the section on embalming...

Nobody Had Seen One of These in 170 Years

Black-browed babbler was feared to be extinct

(Newser) - It's not extinct, just very elusive. That's the takeaway from the discovery of a bird in Indonesia that has ornithologists downright emotional. The bird is the black-browed babbler, which hadn't been seen since the 1840s, reports Mongabay . Two men caught one in a Borneo rainforest and sent...

Britain&#39;s &#39;Greatest Murder Mystery&#39; May Be Solved
Britain's 'Greatest Murder
Mystery' May Be Solved
new study
Feb 27, 2021 4:20 PM CST

Britain's 'Greatest Murder Mystery' May Be Solved

Study lends weight to theory that Richard III killed 'the princes in the tower'

(Newser) - It is, writes historian Tim Thornton, "probably the greatest murder mystery in British history." Just who killed the young brothers who came to be known as the "princes in the tower"? A new study by Thornton cements the idea that the leading suspect is indeed guilty—...

Art Historians Solve a Mystery of &#39;The Scream&#39;
Mystery of Inscription
on 'The Scream' Is Solved
in case you missed it
Feb 27, 2021 7:00 AM CST

Mystery of Inscription on 'The Scream' Is Solved

Art historians says Edvard Munch wrote the 'madman' line himself

(Newser) - Art historians in Norway say they've cracked the mystery about who scrawled a small inscription on Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream." And the culprit was Munch himself, according to their new analysis, reports the BBC . The penciled words in the upper left corner of the painting,...

Barnacles May Hold Clues in Lost-at-Sea Searches
Barnacles May Hold Clues
in Lost-at-Sea Searches
NEW STUDY
Feb 26, 2021 12:44 PM CST

Barnacles May Hold Clues in Lost-at-Sea Searches

Researchers say Lepas anserifera can reveal debris drift times and patterns

(Newser) - Never underestimate barnacles. According to researchers in Australia, they might just help in tracing people lost at sea. Species of the Lepas anserifera genus of goose barnacle are among the most common found in biofouling, a fancy word for the buildup of organisms on a surface, and "play an...

Man's Best Friend May Have Accompanied Him to New World

Finding is based on oldest known remains of an American dog

(Newser) - Researchers have stumbled upon the oldest domesticated dog remains found in the Americas, which suggests man's best friend may have accompanied the first humans to the "New World." Mitochondrial DNA from the canine femur fragment found along the southeastern Alaskan coast shows its owner lived about 10,...

Genghis Khan's Death May Be Less Sexy Than the Legends

New study suggests he was felled by bubonic plague

(Newser) - All kinds of legends exist to explain the death of Mongol ruler Genghis Khan 800 years ago—a poisoned arrow, perhaps? But a new study puts forth an explanation that will sound pretty familiar to people today. That is, a pandemic did him in. As Live Science reports, researchers studying...

Girl With Rapunzel Syndrome Ends Up Needing Surgery

Teen had 19-inch-long hairball that burst through her stomach

(Newser) - A teen with two rare conditions ended up in the hospital after passing out twice, and she left one huge hairball lighter. Live Science reports on the case out of the UK, where a 17-year-old girl showed up at the hospital after her fainting spells, her face and head bruised...

Metal Panel Found in 1991 Could Hold Earhart Clues

It'll be tested using a nuclear reactor

(Newser) - The quest to discover what happened to Amelia Earhart has turned to ... a nuclear reactor. Popular Mechanics reports scientists at Penn State University are focusing not on Earhart herself but her plane, a Lockheed Model 10-E Electra. In 1991, longtime Earhart searcher Ric Gillespie found an aluminum panel on the...

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