discoveries

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

Stories 21 - 40 | << Prev   Next >>

Discovery of &#39;Dream&#39; Amount of Helium Caused &#39;a Lot of Screaming&#39;
In Minnesota,
a 'Dream' Helium
Discovery
in case you missed it
Mar 10, 2024 7:50 AM CDT

In Minnesota, a 'Dream' Helium Discovery

Babbitt, Minnesota, could be home to highest concentration of the gas in North America

(Newser) - A reservoir of lucrative helium, potentially boasting the highest concentration of the gas in North America, has been confirmed in Minnesota. "There was a lot of screaming, a lot of hugging and high-fives," Pulsar Helium CEO Thomas Abraham-James tells CBS News . Helium was first discovered by accident in...

Got Milk? This Amphibian Does
Got Milk? This
Amphibian Does
NEW STUDY
Mar 8, 2024 9:18 AM CST

Got Milk? This Amphibian Does

Scientists say wormlike caecilians offer this surprising sustenance to their young, like mammals

(Newser) - Researchers already knew that baby ringed caecilians, a wormlike amphibian that lives burrowed underneath the earth, gain some of their nutrition by feeding on the skin of their own mother once or twice a week. But when a team out of Brazil studying the creature (also known as Siphonops annulatus)...

The World&#39;s Earliest Known Forest Has Been Found
'This Was a Pretty Weird Forest'
new study
Mar 7, 2024 5:45 PM CST

'This Was a Pretty Weird Forest'

Scientists say they've found the world's earliest forest

(Newser) - It's a "pretty weird forest"—but a record-setting one. Scientists say they've found the oldest known forest on Earth, taking the crown from a forest in New York's Catskills that had previously held the title. The BBC reports the fossilized forest, reported on in the...

Scientist Unravel Secrets of Enormous &#39;Star Dunes&#39;
Surprise: Enormous
'Star Dunes' Move
new study
Mar 4, 2024 4:03 PM CST

Surprise: Enormous 'Star Dunes' Move

Giant one in Morocco is traveling west more than a foot per year

(Newser) - The most detailed study to date of enormous sand formations known as "star dunes" may explain why they are largely absent from Earth's ancient geological record—they are apparently younger than we've long thought. Coverage:
  • What are they? Star dunes are huge deposits of sand formed by
...

Why Don&#39;t We Have Tails? Scientists Find a Clue
Why Don't
We Have Tails?
Scientists Have
an Answer
new study
Feb 28, 2024 3:02 PM CST

Why Don't We Have Tails? Scientists Have an Answer

They pinpoint a DNA insertion in a gene that may have been a big factor

(Newser) - Our very ancient animal ancestors had tails. Why don't we? Somewhere around 20 million or 25 million years ago, when apes diverged from monkeys, our branch of the tree of life shed its tail. From Darwin's time, scientists have wondered why—and how—this happened. And as an...

These Tiny Fish Are Louder Than Elephants
These Tiny Fish Are
Loud as a Gunshot
NEW STUDY
Feb 27, 2024 10:57 AM CST

These Tiny Fish Are Loud as a Gunshot

And elephants, according to new research on Danionella cerebrum

(Newser) - Often in nature, the larger the animal, the louder the noise. The sperm whale, for instance, can make clicks as loud as 200 decibels , while the elephant can trumpet as loud as 117 decibels . But as we know, nature is full of surprises, and in one such surprise, researchers have...

As Far as Discoveries Go, It&#39;s Quite Literally Huge
The Rumors About
the Snake Were True
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 25, 2024 10:40 AM CST

The Rumors About the Snake Were True

A new species of giant anaconda is identified

(Newser) - Bryan Fry calls the discovery "the highlight of my career"—and it's quite literally a big one. The University of Queensland professor and his team managed to document a new species of giant anaconda in the Amazon, per a press release . As Fry explains, his team got...

Math Historian Saw Decimals in 1440s Treatise and Freaked Out

Glen Van Brummelen uncovers earliest known use of decimal to indicate base-10 number system

(Newser) - How old is the decimal? It's a question you've probably never pondered but one that has fascinated certain historians. Fascinated isn't overstating it. When Glen Van Brummelen, a historian of mathematics at Canada's Trinity Western University, spotted a decimal used to indicate tenths of a number...

How a Cushion of Fat Helps Whales Sing

Researchers may have figured out how baleen whales vocalize

(Newser) - Whales sing loud enough that their songs travel through the ocean, but knowing the mechanics behind that has been a mystery. Scientists now think they have an idea, and it's something not seen in other animals: a specialized voice box. Experts say the discovery, while based on a study...

ADHD May Have Been Evolutionary Advantage
ADHD May Have Been
Evolutionary Advantage
NEW STUDY
Feb 22, 2024 12:33 PM CST

ADHD May Have Been Evolutionary Advantage

Study involving online berry-picking suggests ADHD is 'adaptive specialization for foraging'

(Newser) - Traits associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can include difficulty concentrating, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. Though such traits are often viewed negatively, it really depends on the environment. Research has backed the "evolutionary mismatch" theory that argues traits of neurodivergence, though perhaps disadvantageous in our hyperstimulated modern world, provided an evolutionary...

This Is the Fastest-Growing Black Hole Ever Discovered

'This quasar is the most violent place that we know in the universe,' says lead scientist

(Newser) - Astronomers have discovered what may be the brightest object in the universe, a quasar with a black hole at its heart growing so fast that it swallows the equivalent of a sun a day. As the AP reports, the record-breaking quasar shines 500 trillion times brighter than our sun. The...

&#39;Aloof&#39; Big Cats Are Partial to Keepers&#39; Voices
Big Cats Are
Like Pet Cats
in One Big Way
in case you missed it
Feb 18, 2024 10:15 AM CST

Big Cats Are Like Pet Cats in One Big Way

Familiar human voices draw longer, more intense responses than unfamiliar ones, researchers show

(Newser) - Domestic cats can tell their owner's voice apart from other humans, and apparently their larger cousins have that same capability, according to new research out of Michigan's Oakland University. In the study published Thursday in the PeerJ—Life and Environment journal, scientists wanted to see if tigers, cheetahs,...

Viagra Study Provides &#39;Food for Thought&#39;
Viagra Study
Provides 'Food
for Thought'
in case you missed it
Feb 18, 2024 7:00 AM CST

Viagra Study Provides 'Food for Thought'

Researchers find correlation between Viagra prescriptions, lowered Alzheimer's risk

(Newser) - It's an intriguing study that provides "food for thought," as its lead author puts it. Researchers found men who'd been prescribed Viagra and similar PDE5 inhibitor drugs were 18% less likely to develop Alzheimer's over a five-year period than those who hadn't been prescribed...

It Could Be Europe&#39;s &#39;Oldest Man-Made Megastructure&#39;
Beneath the Sea, an Ancient
'Man-Made Megastructure'
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 17, 2024 12:10 PM CST

Beneath the Sea, an Ancient 'Man-Made Megastructure'

Stone Age wall found in sea off Germany thought to have been used to hunt reindeer

(Newser) - More than 10,000 years ago, humans constructed a long, low wall, using rocks weighing a combined 150 tons. Discovered by accident in 2021, the Blinkerwall—submerged 70 feet deep in the Baltic Sea, 6 miles off the coast of Rerik, Germany—is now a candidate for the oldest known...

Scientists Followed 20 Polar Bears. Their Findings Are Grim

The creatures are starving as climate change causes ice melt and they can't access main prey

(Newser) - Imagine being a nursing mom who can't produce milk because you're starving, or trying to swim more than 100 miles after not eating for days. Those are just a couple of the scenarios Time notes are now plaguing polar bears in the Arctic as sea ice continues to...

Researchers Find Telltale Alzheimer's Clues in Our Blood

Study identifies 4 biological markers, raising hope that a blood test for dementia is nearer

(Newser) - It's looking more and more likely that a blood test to predict Alzheimer's years before symptoms appear will be available in the not-too-distant future. In the latest development, researchers say they identified biological markers in stored blood samples that reliably forecast various forms of dementia nearly 15 years...

Insects Gather at Lights Because They&#39;re Confused
Insects Gather at Lights
Because They're Confused
NEW STUDY
Feb 4, 2024 2:15 PM CST

Insects Gather at Lights Because They're Confused

Artificial light at night can scramble insects' navigation systems, researcher says

(Newser) - Moths and other flying insects end up fluttering around artificial lights at night not because they find the light itself appealing, but because the light messes with their navigation systems, researchers say. Sam Fabian, co-author of a study published in the journal Nature Communications , says moths and other insects appear...

Finding May Explain Why Women Get Lupus More Often

Females' extra X chromosome appears to be a factor in autoimmune disorders

(Newser) - Women get autoimmune disorders such as lupus far more often than men, and a new study suggests the best explanation to date for why that is. It's all about the extra X chromosome that women carry, reports STAT News . More specifically, the study in the journal Cell focuses on...

Dino &#39;From Hell&#39; Suggests There Was No Decline
Dino 'From Hell' Suggests
There Was No Decline
NEW STUDY
Feb 1, 2024 12:50 PM CST

Dino 'From Hell' Suggests There Was No Decline

New caenagnathid species, and a possible second, suggest this dino family was doing fine

(Newser) - Paleontologists have been debating whether the asteroid that killed non-avian dinosaurs took out a varied group of thriving reptiles or one already in decline . Now, researchers say they've discovered a new dinosaur species whose very existence disputes the latter argument. The argument is largely based on apparent declines in...

Seaweed Could Help Us Survive Nuclear War
Seaweed Could
Save Us After Nuclear War
new study
Jan 31, 2024 2:40 PM CST

Seaweed Could Save Us After Nuclear War

Study finds it could help feed humanity ... if we can make it at least 9 months

(Newser) - Should our planet be ravaged by nuclear war, those who survive may not starve to death, or so suggests a new study. Yes, the million tons of radioactive dust and smoke and soot that result from the fires caused by the bombs will be sent into Earth's atmosphere, sharply...

Stories 21 - 40 | << Prev   Next >>