discoveries

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

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Shipwrecks Are Pollution Threat to US Waters

As vessels sit underwater for decades, oil could start to leak out

(Newser) - An oil barge recently discovered at the bottom of Lake Erie—nearly 80 years after it sank—has brought a renewed focus to the environmental dangers posed by dozens of shipwrecks littering American waters, the Detroit Free Press reports. According to the AP , 87 shipwrecks are included on a federal...

'Halloween' Space Rock Is a Dead Comet

Approaching 'space zombie' looks like a skull

(Newser) - The "Halloween asteroid" set to make its closest approach to Earth today has turned out to be something spookier: a dead comet. Scientist say object 2015 TB145 looked like an asteroid when it was first spotted a few weeks ago. but closer inspection suggests that it is a comet...

This Is the Quietest Place on Earth

Silence inside anechoic chamber at Microsoft HQ measures -20.6 decibels

(Newser) - Guinness World Records has officially ruled : an audio lab at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Wash., is the quietest place in the world. Though Building 87 on the Microsoft campus is home to three anechoic, or "free from echo," chambers the company uses to test audio technology, the...

Ahoy: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a ship's graveyard and herpes that's everywhere

(Newser) - A birth that messed up one clan's family tree and a region of the world that might turn uninhabitable make the list:
  • Dad Learns Unborn Twin 'Fathered' His Son : When a couple learned their son had a different blood type than his parents, Dad took a paternity test
...

Planet Discovered in 2012 Was Really a 'Ghost'

Alpha Centauri Bb was never there, astronomers say

(Newser) - When an Earth-sized planet was detected in the closest star system to us in 2012, excited astronomers suggested dropping everything and sending a probe. That would have been a mistake, because researchers have now determined that Alpha Centauri Bb does not exist. Astronomers—including the team that "discovered" the...

Mushrooms Make It Rain
 Mushrooms 
 Make It Rain 
study says

Mushrooms Make It Rain

'Nothing else works like this in nature'

(Newser) - It turns out mushrooms may be better for more than topping pizzas. Who knew? According to a study published Wednesday, mushrooms may actually help produce the rain they need to live. Discovery reports researchers documented a previously unknown system in which rain makes mushrooms grow, mushrooms release spores into the...

Expedition Finds 'Ancient Shipwreck Capital of the World'

Archaeologists find 22 shipwrecks in less than two weeks

(Newser) - Teams from Greece and the US have made one of the biggest archaeological finds of the year, Discovery reports. While exploring Greece's Fourni archipelago, the Greek Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and RPM Nautical Foundation stumbled across what Smithsonian describes as an "artifact jackpot" and what Discovery says could...

This Is the Windiest City in the US
 This Is the Windiest 
 City in the US 
top 5 list

This Is the Windiest City in the US

Plus, the rest of the top 5

(Newser) - Hold on to your hats, folks, before reading this one, especially if you live in a city that qualifies as among America's windiest. USA Today shares CoreLogic's rankings of 293 US cities by total force of severe wind gusts since 2006. It turns out the Windy City ranks...

Study: You Should Sing to Your Baby a Lot More

They stay calm longer when listening to singing than talking

(Newser) - Want to keep your baby calm and not wailing? Talking in your own voice will work for an average of just under four minutes, at which point the "cry face" typically sets in—the lowered brow, open mouth, and raised cheeks that signal distress. Employing baby talk buys you...

Study: You Probably Have Herpes

Two-thirds of the global population under age 50 has HSV-1, estimates the WHO

(Newser) - In its first ever global assessment of the prevalence of the herpes virus that causes cold sores, the World Health Organization reports in the journal PLoS ONE that two in three humans under the age of 50 are infected with the incurable virus. That's an estimated 3.7 billion...

Why Australians Talk Funny: Drunk Forefathers?

Professor makes his case

(Newser) - A communications professor in Australia has caused quite a stir Down Under with a public complaint that almost everyone there talks like drunks. In tracing the origins of the Australian accent in the Age , Dean Frenkel of Victoria University describes its Aboriginal, English, Irish, and German roots. So far, so...

Owner Finds Car Parked on Her Roof

Nobody was hurt in bizarre car accident

(Newser) - When Joyce Kingsley heard "kaboom" in her Michigan home, she immediately thought of extreme weather. It was something much stranger. The 83-year-old discovered that a Ford Mustang was parked on the roof of her home, after the driver had a medical problem Monday and lost control on Interstate 69...

The 5 Most Expensive Places to Raise a Family

That's some pricey living, Eastern Seaboard

(Newser) - Want to be able to provide for your family of four? Move west. At least that seems to be the lesson of MarketWatch 's list of the 10 most expensive places to raise a family. MarketWatch came up with the list by looking at data from the Economic Policy...

5 Million US Children Have Had Incarcerated Parent

And that's hurting them, according to a new report

(Newser) - One in 14 children have had at least one parent incarcerated during their life—a percentage that's even higher for poor children and black children—and that's having a negative impact on their lives, USA Today reports The statistics come from a report— Parents Behind Bars: What Happens ...

Reducing Sugar Boosts Kids&#39; Health Within Days
Reducing Sugar Boosts
Kids' Health Within Days
NEW STUDY

Reducing Sugar Boosts Kids' Health Within Days

Results push study author to call for a tax on 'toxic' sugar

(Newser) - Dr. Robert Lustig previously argued that sugar is as bad as tobacco or cocaine. Now, he's advocating for a sugar tax in the Guardian based on a new diet study of obese kids. Lustig and colleagues asked 43 black and Hispanic children, aged 8 to 18—each with symptoms...

Archaeologists Discover Tomb Stuffed With Riches

Inside: a 'griffin warrior'

(Newser) - Archaeologists have discovered a treasure trove in the undisturbed grave of a warrior who died some 3,500 years ago in Greece. Found in the ancient city of Pylos in May, the 5-foot-deep grave contained a bronze sword with an ivory hilt; a gold-hilted dagger; four gold rings; a gold...

As Big Mammals Die Off, Planet Suffers a Poop Shortage

The flow of phosphorous and other nutrients has declined dramatically

(Newser) - Earth isn't just dealing with the loss of big mammals, such as elephants, whales, and rhinos. It's also faced with a dramatic reduction in their poop, which could have profound effects on the planet's ecosystems, reports Red Orbit . Researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy ...

The Gulf Is Becoming Too Hot for Humans
 Persian Gulf Is Getting 
 Too Hot for Humans 
NEW STUDY

Persian Gulf Is Getting Too Hot for Humans

Heat, humidity will create killer conditions, study warns

(Newser) - A stark warning, even by the standards of climate research: If emissions continue at their current level, parts of the Persian Gulf region will simply become too hot and humid for people to survive in. Researchers say that by the end of this century, the combined heat and humidity "...

10K-Year-Old Extinct Species Found in Cave

These creatures once roamed alongside woolly mammoths

(Newser) - One of Earth's long-extinct and ancient predators has been found—wholly intact for the first time—in a cave in eastern Russia, the Siberian Times reports. According to the Academy of Sciences of Yakutia, two cave lion cubs were discovered this summer almost totally preserved by permafrost in the...

This Is the Best City to Live In If You Want to Get Rich

Houston? Really?

(Newser) - Want to get rich? Consider moving to ... Houston. Yes, the Texas city tops a new Bankrate.com study of the best US cities in which to accumulate wealth, according to US News & World Report . Bankrate looked at 18 of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country—and even a...

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