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

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Air Pollution May Make Ants Go Haywire
Air Pollution May Make Ants
Turn on Each Other
new study
Feb 7, 2026 11:10 AM CST

Air Pollution May Make Ants Turn on Each Other

Study suggests they attack nest mates and even abandon their young

(Newser) - Ants living in smoggy air may be turning on their own, and even abandoning their young, because pollution is scrambling their social signals, new research suggests. In lab tests described this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , scientists exposed individual workers from six ant species to...

Jupiter Is a Smidge Smaller Than We Thought
For Jupiter, 'Textbooks Will
Need to Be Updated'
new study
Feb 6, 2026 10:48 AM CST

For Jupiter, 'Textbooks Will Need to Be Updated'

New measurements reveal the planet is a bit thinner, flatter than believed

(Newser) - Jupiter hasn't shrunk, but our best measurement of it just did. Using fresh data from NASA's Juno spacecraft, scientists say the solar system's largest planet is slightly smaller and squatter than decades-old estimates suggested, reports Smithsonian Magazine . The revised dimensions, published in Nature Astronomy , trim roughly 15...

Scientists Say This Ape Had Some Imagination
Scientists Say This Ape
Had Some Imagination
NEW STUDY
Feb 6, 2026 7:21 AM CST

Scientists Say This Ape Had Some Imagination

Researchers say Kanzi the bonobo knew how to play pretend, though others aren't so sure

(Newser) - By age 2, most kids know how to play pretend. They turn their bedrooms into faraway castles and hold make-believe tea parties. The ability to make something out of nothing may seem uniquely human—a bedrock of creativity that's led to new kinds of art, music, and more. Now,...

On Longevity, 'You Don't Have as Much Control as You Think'

Study suggests genetics explain over half of lifespan differences, rather than lifestyle choices

(Newser) - How long you live may be more baked in than you think, according to a new analysis of longevity that leans heavily toward genes over lifestyle. In a paper published Thursday in Science , researchers led by Uri Alon of Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science report that inherited factors appear...

It's the Oldest-Ever Evidence of a Fatal Bear Attack

Reanalysis of an Italian cave burial reveals teen's death was likely caused by a bear

(Newser) - A Stone Age teenager whose remains were discovered in 1942 did indeed meet the violent end that had long been suspected. Scientific American reports that a reexamination of the famed "Il Principe" skeleton, found in an Italian cave and dating back 27,000 years, produced strong evidence he was...

Researchers 'in Shock' at Bird Spotted Off California Coast

Waved albatross is usually hanging out in the Galapagos, not the Golden State

(Newser) - Scientists on a research vessel off the Central California coast spotted a waved albatross, marking just the second recorded sighting of the bird north of Central America. The yellow-billed bird with black button eyes, which can have an 8-foot wingspan and spends much of its life flying over the ocean,...

Researchers See Alzheimer's Clues in Terry Pratchett Books

Signs of the disease may have appeared well before the late author's diagnosis

(Newser) - The late author Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2007. But researchers poring over his old works suggest telltale clues emerged in his writing roughly a decade before that, reports IFL Science . A team led by Loughborough University's Dr. Thom Wilcockson analyzed 33 books from the British...

Meat May Help Underweight Seniors Make It to 100
Meat May Help
Underweight
Seniors Make
It to 100
NEW STUDY
Jan 29, 2026 1:51 PM CST

Meat May Help Underweight Seniors Make It to 100

Study links underweight older vegetarians to lower odds of reaching that milestone age

(Newser) - Meat eaters may look like they have the edge on reaching 100 in a new study, but the story is more complicated than "steak beats salad." The Conversation reports that researchers followed more than 5,000 Chinese adults ages 80 and up as part of the long-running Chinese...

Night Owls May Face Higher Heart Risks, Study Finds
Staying Up Late Could
Be Bad for Your Heart
NEW STUDY
Jan 28, 2026 10:31 AM CST

Staying Up Late Could Be Bad for Your Heart

Research finds that night owls may face higher cardiovascular risk, especially women

(Newser) - Burning the midnight oil might not just make mornings rough—it could also be tied to worse heart health, especially for women, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed data from nearly 323,000 adults in the UK Biobank and found that people who described themselves as "evening" types...

Scientists: Pot Drinks May Be 'Harm Reduction' for Alcohol

Small study finds cannabis drinks are linked to reduced weekly alcohol intake

(Newser) - Swapping your IPA for a THC seltzer might do more than change your buzz. A small new study suggests cannabis-infused drinks could help some people cut back on alcohol. Public health researchers from the University at Buffalo surveyed 438 adults who say they'd used cannabis in the past year;...

Scientists: We've Found the Oldest Wooden Tools Ever

Artifacts dug up in Greece's Megalopolis basin are thought to be 430K years old

(Newser) - Two artifacts found at a lake shore in Greece are the oldest wooden tools ever uncovered, dating back 430,000 years. One is a spindly stick about 2 1/2 feet long that could've been used for digging in the mud, per the AP . The other is a smaller, more...

Scientist Document First-Ever Cow Tools Case
Scientists Amazed by
'Cow Using an Actual Tool'
in case you missed it
Jan 24, 2026 3:46 PM CST

Scientists Amazed by 'Cow Using an Actual Tool'

They believe bovine intelligence has been underestimated

(Newser) - A 13-year-old Austrian cow has just nudged cattle a little higher up the intelligence ladder. Veronika, a pet cow in the Alpine village of Nötsch im Gailtal, caught the attention of animal cognition researchers after her owner, organic farmer Witgar Wiegele, noticed she liked to play with sticks and...

How Japan's Famous Snow Monsters Came to Be

Ancient volcanic collapse rerouted winds

(Newser) - Japan's famed "snow monsters" may actually be ghosts of an ancient blast. For years, the hulking, ice-coated trees that blanket the Zao mountain range each winter have been explained largely by weather and the hardy conifers themselves. But Fumitaka Yanagisawa of Yamagata University says the real story starts...

These Faint Handprints Change What We Know About Art

Indonesian handprints are the oldest cave art found yet

(Newser) - Handprints on cave walls in a largely unexplored area of Indonesia may be the oldest rock art studied so far, dating back to at least 67,800 years ago. The tan-colored prints analyzed by Indonesian and Australian researchers on the island of Sulawesi were made by blowing pigment over hands...

Saudi Caves Yield Mummified Cheetahs
Mummified Cheetahs
Give Clues to the Past
NEW STUDY
Jan 18, 2026 8:40 AM CST

Mummified Cheetahs Give Clues to the Past

The remains found in Saudi caves shed light on lost populations

(Newser) - Scientists have uncovered the mummified remains of cheetahs from caves in northern Saudi Arabia. The remains range from 130 years old to over 1,800 years old. Researchers excavated seven mummies along with the bones of 54 other cheetahs from a site near the city of Arar, reports the AP...

New Dino's Bizarre Hand May Have Served One Purpose
New Dinosaur Species Leaves
Experts 'Flabbergasted'
in case you missed it
Jan 17, 2026 12:09 PM CST

New Dinosaur Species Leaves Experts 'Flabbergasted'

Manipulonyx reshetovi , with a spiked, multitool forelimb, is described as an egg thief

(Newser) - A newly described dinosaur seems to have come with its own built-in egg-grabber. In a study published in the Proceedings of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences , researchers unveil Manipulonyx reshetovi, a small Late Cretaceous dinosaur with one of the strangest forelimbs yet seen. About the size...

Forever Chemicals Found in Grand Canyon's Springs
Grand Canyon's
Springs Contain
Traces of Drugs, PFAS
NEW STUDY
Jan 17, 2026 11:30 AM CST

Grand Canyon's Springs Contain Traces of Drugs, PFAS

Study links contaminants to leaks from nearby South Rim wastewater treatment plant

(Newser) - Water flowing through one of America's most iconic landscapes is carrying traces of something decidedly un-grand: drug residue and so-called forever chemicals. A new study by the US Geological Survey and National Park Service found multiple contaminants in springs along the Grand Canyon's South Rim, including Bright Angel...

New Research Good News for Tylenol, Bad News for Trump

Review of studies on acetaminophen boosts wide consensus that it doesn't up risk of autism, ADHD

(Newser) - A new review of studies has found that taking Tylenol during pregnancy doesn't up the risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disabilities, adding to the growing body of research refuting claims made by the Trump administration. President Trump last year promoted unproven ties between the painkiller and autism, telling...

Small Daily Tweaks to Sleep, Diet, Exercise May Extend Life
To Live Longer,
Make a Few Daily Tweaks
in case you missed it
Jan 17, 2026 5:50 AM CST

To Live Longer, Make a Few Daily Tweaks

Studies link modest sleep, exercise, diet modifications to longevity

(Newser) - Want to tack on a year to your life? The math, researchers say, might come down to a few extra minutes and a few extra bites. Two major studies published on Tuesday suggest that tiny, sustainable tweaks to sleep, movement, and diet can add years not only to your lifespan,...

New Research Has Potential to Change Psychiatric Treatment

Study sees shared genetics among psychiatric illnesses, which could simplify approaches by doctors

(Newser) - The guidelines for psychiatric treatment may be in line for a significant update if a sweeping new study holds up. An international team analyzed DNA and medical data from more than 1 million people with one of 14 psychiatric diagnoses and discovered that the ailments share more overlapping genetic roots...

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