discoveries

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

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60% of Our Giant Herbivores Are in Trouble

Study finds they face risk of extinction

(Newser) - A new study published in Science Advances is being described as "horribly bleak," at least as far as rhinos, camels, and elephants are concerned: It finds that the majority of the planet's giant herbivores face the risk of extinction. The wildlife ecologists write that while about 4,...

Beard Swabs Yield 'Disturbing' Results

Some were as dirty as toilets, microbiologist says

(Newser) - Beard hygiene is important unless you want to have the equivalent of a dirty toilet seat growing out of your face, according to a microbiologist who swabbed a bunch of beards and was shocked by the results. "I'm usually not surprised and I was surprised by this,"...

Going Out Alone Is Actually a Good Thing

Drop that fear of looking like a loser, researchers say

(Newser) - Sitting in restaurants or movie theaters all alone isn't nearly as depressing as you might think—in fact, researchers say, you'll actually like it. They decided this after surveying people about whether they preferred to engage in certain activities alone or with others, and then studying subjects' reactions...

Ancient Global Cooling Could Explain Tibet Mystery

Temperatures may have led to a civilization's downfall

(Newser) - Civilization at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau fell apart—or at least changed very suddenly—4,000 years ago, and now, researchers believe they can explain why. In fact, it has to do with climate change, though not the way we currently think of it, Science 2.0 notes....

Study: Optimism Is Overrated

It may help more with persistence than actual performance

(Newser) - A new study delivers a somewhat depressing message: Positive thinking may not be all it's cracked up to be. "I kept hearing about how optimistic mindset was so great, but then you think about all the times that striving for accuracy might be better for the individual,"...

Bats Are Like Humans in One Remarkable Way

Both species listen with both hemispheres of their brains

(Newser) - Humans were thought to be unique as a species in that we use both halves of our brains to "distinguish different aspects of sound," as Georgetown neuroscientist Stuart Washington puts it. Turns out we're not as special as we thought. A type of bat also displays this...

No Sweat: 5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a 'strange-winged' dinosaur and a bird polluted with flame retardant

(Newser) - Are archaeologists close to uncovering a royal tomb in an ancient Mexican city? Could you beat the blues by smelling someone's armpits? Those questions are both on the list this week:
  • Tiny Dinosaur Was Named 'Strange Wing' for a Reason : A pint-sized two-legged dinosaur that lived in China
...

Scientists Find Planet's Most Polluted Bird

Cooper's hawk found with higher levels of flame retardants than any other

(Newser) - The Vancouver area is home to what is thus far known to be our planet's most polluted wild bird. Researchers studying the livers of local birds of prey found that the Cooper's hawk was tainted with polybrominated diphenyl ethers, chemicals that function as flame retardants. Of the 13...

Tiny Dinosaur Had Wings Like a Bat

They were made of skin, not feathers

(Newser) - A pint-sized dinosaur has a big surprise: It apparently sported a pair of bizarre wings. Dinosaurs normally used wings mostly made of feathers for flight. But the newly discovered creature evidently had wings made of skin instead, like those of a bat or some ancient flying reptiles. It's not...

Invention May Make Air Travel Much Quieter

Membrane could block 1K times more sound energy than plane alone

(Newser) - Does the buzzing of a plane's engines drive you bonkers? Researchers have come up with a product that could save you some grief. They've developed a thin membrane capable of blocking low-frequency noise that tends to bounce around the cabin. The honeycomb-like material typically used on a plane'...

Archaeologists Resurrect Key Pocahontas Site

The church where she wed John Rolfe is coming back to life

(Newser) - A group of archaeologists in Jamestown, Virginia, is busy doing the opposite of what one would normally expect: building something new, rather than searching for what once was. Popular Archaeology reports that an effort is underway to rebuild a potion of the church where Pocahontas wed John Rolfe in 1614...

Teotihuacan Find Boosts Hope of Royal Tomb

Liquid mercury in pyramid could symbolize path to underworld

(Newser) - A 600-foot tunnel below a pyramid in the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan has given up 50,000 artifacts —but its latest reveal could indicate something far more significant lies in wait. After six years of toiling below the Pyramid of the Plumed Serpent, archaeologist Sergio Gomez says he'...

Genome Reveals Secrets of Last Mammoths
 Genome Reveals Secrets 
 of Last Mammoths 
in case you missed it
Apr 26, 2015 5:01 PM CDT

Genome Reveals Secrets of Last Mammoths

Low genetic variation perhaps led to decline on Wrangel Island

(Newser) - The last of the woolly mammoths in Siberia died out about 10,000 years ago, but a smaller number living on Wrangel Island, off the coast of what is now Russia, managed to stick around for another 6,000 years. Researchers set out to investigate the two groups and the...

Here&#39;s Where You&#39;ll Find the Most Binge Drinking in US
Here's Where You'll Find the Most Binge Drinking in US
in case you missed it
Apr 26, 2015 12:37 PM CDT

Here's Where You'll Find the Most Binge Drinking in US

Heavy-drinking women have made an impact on the numbers

(Newser) - Even though the percentage of people who drink alcohol doesn't seem to be going up, binge drinking is, and the lead author of a recent study on the subject has uncovered two facts he finds "alarming": In many US counties, 25% of residents or more are binge drinkers,...

Feeling Down? Smell a Happy Person&#39;s Sweat
Feeling Down? Smell a
Happy Person's Sweat
study says
Apr 25, 2015 8:52 AM CDT

Feeling Down? Smell a Happy Person's Sweat

Study suggests chemicals in body odor can affect others

(Newser) - Scientists think they've figured out a way for people to feel happier, but applying it in real life might be a little weird: It involves getting a whiff of a happy person's armpits. It seems that we humans secrete chemicals in sweat that reflect our emotional states, and...

New Frog Species Looks Oddly Familiar
 New Frog 
 Species Looks 
 Oddly Familiar 
in case you missed it
Apr 25, 2015 7:29 AM CDT

New Frog Species Looks Oddly Familiar

Is that you, Kermit?

(Newser) - If a new frog species discovered in Costa Rica looks familiar to you, you're not alone. The Hyalinobatrachium dianae is causing quite a stir because of its resemblance to a certain Muppet, Mashable reports. Yes, Kermit has found a twin in this frog with bright green skin and bulging...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including how thinking may boost brain tumors

(Newser) - Babies' capacity for pain and the surprising motivation of straight men are on the list this week:
  • Babies Feel Pain Same as Adults Do : The belief that babies don't have fully developed pain receptors may have been smashed by Oxford scientists who poked and prodded newborns' feet and found
...

Incredibly Rare Pocket Shark Caught in Gulf

Only previous catch was 36 years ago

(Newser) - Scientists know very little about the pocket shark—they're not even sure what it keeps in its pockets—but a Gulf of Mexico catch has doubled the number of known specimens. At 5.5 inches, the species is small enough to fit in your pocket, the National Oceanic and...

Researchers Discover New Tick-Borne Disease

Anaplasma capra is a new species of bacteria common in goats

(Newser) - Ticks can carry more than Lyme disease, as a newly published study reminds us. Researchers from China and the University of Maryland School of Medicine uncovered a previously unknown tick-borne illness after last spring examining 477 Chinese patients who had suffered tick bites. They determined 6% of the patients had...

Researcher Says He's First to Tell Male, Female Dinos Apart

It all comes down to a stegosaurus's plates

(Newser) - If the sight of broad, wide plates along the back of a stegosaurus fails to drive you wild with desire, that's probably because you're not a female stegosaurus. In what the University of Bristol calls the "first convincing evidence for sexual differences in a species of dinosaur,...

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