discoveries

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

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Farmer Finds Perfect Jaw of Ancient Marine Creature

Kronosaurus swam in Australian waters more than 100M years ago

(Newser) - An unexpected upside to a drought in Queensland, Australia: Researchers now have a better sense of what a fearsome sea creature of yore looked like. A cattle farmer stumbled across a fossil in his field that turned out to be the lower jaw of Kronosaurus Queenslandicus, which plied the local...

Babies Feel Pain Same as Adults Do
Babies Feel Pain
Same as Adults Do
study says
Apr 21, 2015 4:00 PM CDT

Babies Feel Pain Same as Adults Do

They might even be more sensitive to it, study says

(Newser) - Researchers say their new study confirms what babies have been trying to tell us all along: Of course, they feel pain. In fact, they may be more sensitive to it than adults, according to a post at Science Daily . Oxford scientists used MRI scans to study the brains of newborns...

Breakfast Club Script Found in School Cabinet

1985 flick was filmed in a sister school in Illinois

(Newser) - Officials clearing out filing cabinets at Illinois' Maine South High School ahead of a move to a neighboring building last month uncovered a piece of movie history: a first draft of John Hughes' screenplay for the 1985 classic The Breakfast Club, dated Sept. 21, 1983. If you're wondering how...

Largest Structure Ever Found Is a Really Cold Hole

Some call the discovery independent evidence of dark energy

(Newser) - Researchers using NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer and a telescope in Maui have discovered what they are calling the "largest individual structure ever identified by humanity," reports the Royal Astronomical Society . So large, in fact, that the only way to measure its size is in light-years—1....

Men Gamble Big When a Hot Guy Is Around

 Men Gamble Big 
 When a Hot Guy 
 Is Around 
study says
Apr 19, 2015 9:41 AM CDT

Men Gamble Big When a Hot Guy Is Around

They want to look more attractive themselves, researcher says

(Newser) - Brad Pitt, it seems, would be a dangerous gambling partner. Scientists have found that heterosexual men take greater risks with money—in pursuit of bigger rewards—after seeing pictures of good-looking guys. Researcher Eugene Chan says it's a matter of competition for sex: "Men want to appear more...

Pharaoh's Ancient Chapel Found in Egypt

It was built by Nectanebo I, of the last native dynasty before Alexander the Great

(Newser) - Researchers have made an impressive find in Cairo: part of a chapel built by a pharaoh some 2,300 years ago, Phys.org reports. That pharaoh was King Nectanebo I, whose reign lasted from 379 to 360 BC, daijiworld.com reports. The chapel, part of a temple site in the...

Why the Earth Gets Stronger When a Meteor Strikes
Why the Earth Gets Stronger When a Meteor Strikes
in case you missed it
Apr 18, 2015 7:00 AM CDT

Why the Earth Gets Stronger When a Meteor Strikes

Study describes 'nonlinear force propagation' during impacts

(Newser) - Scientists have studied the effects of meteor strikes above ground, but what happens to soil underground during a high-speed impact? In an experiment funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and recorded using a high-speed camera, physicists at Duke University set out to answer that question. They dropped a bullet-shaped...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including how our faces may have evolved

(Newser) - Why our knuckles crack and bad news for pot smokers' GPAs make the list:
  • Archaeologists May Have Found World's First Tools : Stone tools found at a site in Kenya may date back 3.3 million years, shattering the previous record by about 700,000 years. The new date is
...

Archaeologists May Have Found World's First Tools

Discovered in Kenya, they predate the arrival of modern humans

(Newser) - Archaeologists may have just rewritten the book on the first use of tools in a major way. The team found what it says are unmistakable stone tools at a site near Lake Turkana in Kenya that date back 3.3 million years, reports Science . That doesn't just eclipse the...

Scientists Figure Out Why Knuckles Crack

They needed a finger-pulling device

(Newser) - Scientists equipped with an MRI scanner, a finger-pulling device, and a man they call the "Wayne Gretzky of knuckle-cracking" say they've cracked the mystery of that popping sound your knuckles make when cracked. In a University of Alberta press release, the team says their video reveals that the...

Gray Whale's Record Journey Puzzles Scientists

Varvara began in Russia, traveled 14K miles for longest mammal migration

(Newser) - A gray whale named Varvara has surprised marine scientists with an epic six-month migration of nearly 14,000 miles. That's the longest such journey ever recorded of a mammal, surpassing the humpback whale's migration of about 10,000 miles, reports USA Today . Varvara began her journey off the...

Mini-Strokes Changed Caesar's Personality

Researchers say it makes more sense than epilepsy

(Newser) - Julius Caesar crumpled to the ground during the Battle of Thapsus in 46BC, and theories for the dizziness and limb weakness said to have caused that fall have ranged from epilepsy to malaria seizures and parasitic infection, the Guardian notes. But now two Imperial College London researchers have proposed his...

Where Did Chins Come From?
 Where Did Chins Come From? 
Apr 14, 2015 2:04 PM CDT

Where Did Chins Come From?

Not from heavy chewing, a new study suggests

(Newser) - The human chin is something of a mystery to scientists. How, exactly, did we end up with a seemingly useless structure at the bottom of our face? One theory, as Smithsonian reported in 2012, is that they offer some support as we chew. Small amounts of stress can break down...

Why the World Will See More Shark Bites

More people means more encounters: researchers

(Newser) - Shark attacks like the one that killed a young surfer on Sunday are rare, but according to experts, they're only going to increase in number. In fact, the rate of "unprovoked" shark attacks has been steadily rising for the last century. No, sharks aren't developing a particular...

Low Wages Cost Taxpayers $153B a Year
 Low Wages 
 Cost Taxpayers 
 $153B a Year 
NEW STUDY
Apr 13, 2015 2:04 PM CDT

Low Wages Cost Taxpayers $153B a Year

About half of public assistance goes to working households

(Newser) - The Fight for $15 is planning a big day for Tax Day , and ahead of that comes a study that gives credence to its premise that minimum wage isn't enough to live on: A UC Berkeley study out today pegs the cost of low wages at $153 billion a...

Study: Flying Really Is Getting Worse

Researchers find bad news in all 4 big areas studied

(Newser) - If you've ever found yourself complaining that flying was a much better experience back when you were a young'un, you're not just being a crotchety oldster: A study released today finds that flying is, in fact, worse than it used to be. The AP has highlights from...

Studying Math? Don&#39;t Smoke Marijuana

 Pot-Smoking 
 Students Fail 
 More Courses 
study says
Apr 12, 2015 3:50 PM CDT

Pot-Smoking Students Fail More Courses

Especially math courses, study says

(Newser) - Hanging out in marijuana cafes and smoking the night away is not exactly good for your grades, especially in math, according to a new study . Researchers drew this conclusion after comparing more than 54,000 grades of undergraduates in the Dutch city of Maastricht, where some were banned from the...

Hallucinogenic Brew May Help Depression
 Hallucinogenic Brew 
 May Help Depression 
study says
Apr 12, 2015 1:00 PM CDT

Hallucinogenic Brew May Help Depression

Results from first human clinical trial of ayahuasca are promising

(Newser) - A psychedelic brew from the jungles of Brazil shows promise as a treatment for depression—in fact, as a treatment for those who don't respond to more traditional medication. Researchers at the University of Sao Paulo have just published the results of the first clinical trial involving the anti-depressant...

Scientists Make Amazing 'Fairy Circle' Finding

The circles' layout matches those of skin cells

(Newser) - The Namibian desert is home to what are called " fairy circles ": strange formations of grassless earth surrounded by grass. Almost perfect circles, they're the subject of local myths, the BBC reports. Researchers still don't know what causes them, but new findings could help them figure it...

Worst Case for Oceans: Another 'Great Dying'

Study blames Permian mass extinction on ocean acidity

(Newser) - The planet's greatest extinction —the Permian mass extinction, or the "Great Dying"—wiped out around 90% of marine species and two-thirds of those on land over 60,000 years. Some 252 million years later, researchers are explaining what happened—and it may not bode well for...

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