discoveries

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

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Dinos Were Going Downhill Even Before Asteroid Hit

Decline started tens of millions of years earlier, study says

(Newser) - Dinosaurs were already past their prime when a huge asteroid finished them off 66 million years ago, according to Universities of Reading and Bristol researchers who say their work "changes our understanding of the fate of these mighty creatures." They write in the Proceedings of the National Academy ...

Man's Backyard Project Uncovers Rich Roman's Villa

The find is heralded as 'hugely valuable'

(Newser) - Start digging around in the backyard and you're liable to unearth rusted bottle caps, utility pipes, or maybe a long-forgotten toy. Luke Irwin, on the other hand, discovered the remains of a lavish Roman villa on his property in Wiltshire, England, the Independent reports. The residence, built nearly 2,...

Bronze Age Battle May Rewrite History of War in Europe

Thousands fought in Germany's Tollense Valley

(Newser) - Ten thousand human bones excavated from Germany's Tollense Valley over the last six years tell the story of a Bronze Age battle that's surprising archaeologists. The bones of more than 100 men, along with remains of five horses and various weapons, comprise the first evidence of trained warriors...

17-Year Cicadas Are Coming ... as Many as 1.5M an Acre
17-Year Cicadas Are Coming
... as Many as 1.5M an Acre
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Apr 17, 2016 1:35 PM CDT

17-Year Cicadas Are Coming ... as Many as 1.5M an Acre

Get ready Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia

(Newser) - There will soon be a buzz in the air in the Northeast. Billions of cicadas with a 17-year life span have spent the entire 21st century underground in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, reports Fox News . But when nighttime soil temperature hits 64 degrees for four...

Sperm Bank's 'Perfect Donor' Was Mentally Ill, Fathered 36 Kids

At least 3 families are suing firm that didn't check his background

(Newser) - A man billed as a "perfect donor" by a sperm bank turned out to be a mentally ill felon whose lies on his donor application weren't uncovered for more than a decade, according to families who are now terrified for their children's futures. On its website, Georgia-based...

'Inverted Jenny' Stamp Surfaces 61 Years After It Was Stolen

'One of the most notorious crimes in philatelic history'

(Newser) - An incredibly rare and valuable stamp stolen right out of its exhibition frame at a 1955 convention resurfaced this month in New York and has promptly rocked the philatelic world. "Inverted Jenny" stamps are considered the most famous in America: A printing accident in 1918 produced a single sheet...

When It Comes to Pesticides, Strawberries Now the Worst

Apples have been dethroned on the "Dirty Dozen"

(Newser) - Strawberries are packed with fiber, Vitamin C, and potassium—and they've usually got some pesticide, too. In fact, 98% of strawberries tested by the USDA had some form of pesticide residue, a distinction that earned the fruit the top spot on the Environmental Working Group's annual Dirty Dozen...

Bible Bombshell: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including clues at an ancient burial site and a look at brains on LSD

(Newser) - A mysterious find near the Dead Sea and hand-washing help make the list:
  • Ancient Letters Reveal Bible Bombshell : A cryptic command written on pottery excavated near the Dead Sea not only shows soldiers liked to drink in the Kingdom of Judah around 600BC: It might also push back the date
...

Scientists Crack Monarch Butterflies' Big Secret

They're able to monitor time and the sun

(Newser) - Monarch butterflies "are not just pretty animals. They are a biological treasure trove." That's the takeaway from a new study on how the tiny insects manage to navigate thousands of miles from the US and Canada to Mexico: Eli Shlizerman of the University of Washington and his...

If You're a Woman, Trees Could Extend Your Life

Scientists say living near greenery linked to lower mortality rates in women

(Newser) - Go hug a tree—it could be lowering your mortality rate, at least if you're a woman. In a study published in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal, scientists analyzed questionnaires that more than 108,000 women took between 2000 and 2008 and determined that those subjects who resided in...

CDC: Anal Sex Can Transmit Zika

Texas case confirms man-to-man transmission

(Newser) - A sexually transmitted case of the Zika virus earlier this year involved two men, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers have revealed. The CDC says the case, the first proof that the virus can be transmitted by anal as well as vaginal sex, involved a Dallas man who transmitted...

Common Thyroid Cancer Isn't Cancer Anymore

'If it’s not a cancer, let’s not call it a cancer'

(Newser) - A group of 24 doctors from seven countries just reclassified a certain type of thyroid tumor as no longer cancerous, according to a report in JAMA Oncology . That might not seem like that big of a big deal, but it is. The tumor—formerly called EFVPTC (encapsulated follicular variant of...

Even Babies Will Make a 'Deal With the Devil'

Though they much prefer not to, even babies have a price, Yale study finds

(Newser) - Give a baby as young as a few months old the option to play with a nice puppet or a mean one and odds are she'll choose the nice one. But if the mean one has something to offer that the nice one doesn't—say, lots of baby...

Century-Old Evidence of Exoplanet Stuns Scientists

It came 70 years ahead of first exoplanet discovery

(Newser) - Polluted white dwarf stars—which host planetary debris like calcium, magnesium, and iron—are key in helping astronomers discover what's beyond our solar system. "The mechanism that creates the rings of planetary debris, and the deposition onto the stellar atmosphere, requires the gravitational influence of full-fledged planets,"...

Good News for Moms Who Wait to Have Kids

Study: Children of older moms are healthier, taller

(Newser) - Women who wait until 35 or later to have kids face a higher risk of problems, everything from miscarriage to diabetes to chromosomal problems with the newborn. But as Medical Today notes, that hasn't kept the average age of first pregnancies from creeping steadily up. Now, however, Swedish researchers...

Study: STDs, Not Love, Are Why Humans Became Monogamous

Sorry, romance

(Newser) - Our ancestors didn't choose monogamy out of anything so high-minded as love or religion, according to a new study published Tuesday. Rather, it was most likely due to skyrocketing rates of chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea from all the polygamous sex being had. Within hunter-gatherer groups of 30 or fewer...

It's Official: Zika Causes Birth Defects

What was long suspected has been confirmed by the CDC

(Newser) - What has long been suspected was finally confirmed by the CDC on Wednesday: The Zika virus causes birth defects, Time reports. According to the BBC , hundreds of babies in Brazil have been born with microcephaly since the Zika outbreak started, but so far the link between the two hadn't...

Sorry, Hand-Washing Takes More Effort Than You Think

 There's a Better Way 
 to Wash Your Hands 
NEW STUDY
Apr 13, 2016 7:13 AM CDT

There's a Better Way to Wash Your Hands

Best technique to reduce bacteria involves 6 steps: study

(Newser) - You do it several times a day: You grab some soap, rub your hands together for 20 seconds or so, then rinse. Yet if you're aiming to get rid of as much bacteria as possible, you've been washing your hands all wrong. After observing the hand-washing techniques of...

Humans&#39; Nasty Gift to Neanderthals: Herpes?
Humans' Nasty Gift to Neanderthals: Herpes?
NEW STUDY
Apr 12, 2016 11:14 AM CDT

Humans' Nasty Gift to Neanderthals: Herpes?

Diseases out of Africa may have helped lead to their demise

(Newser) - Scientists claim Neanderthals were doomed by everything from climate change to their big eyes . A new study offers a different theory: humans were at least partly responsible. UK researchers say humans who migrated out of Africa were "reservoirs of tropical disease" and may have infected Neanderthals across Europe with...

Even a Second of Laughter Speaks Volumes

Scientists find that across cultures humans are good at discerning intimacy via laughter

(Newser) - What can be revealed in just a brief moment of laughter—an audio recording a mere second long, played without any context to people in two dozen different parts of the world? Quite a lot, it turns out. In fact, that tiny blip of sound is enough for many of...

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