5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including a potential answer to a black-hole riddle
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 29, 2015 5:53 AM CDT
5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week
This image made by the Hubble Space Telescope shows NGC 4526, one of the brightest lenticular galaxies known. It is known to have a supermassive black hole at its center.   (ESA/Hubble & NASA via AP)

Support for the single life and and (possibly) for Jesus' supposed wife make the list:

  • A Black Hole Conundrum Solved? "If you feel you are in a black hole, don't give up. There's a way out." So says Stephen Hawking in claiming to have resolved the so-called information paradox—the seemingly irreconcilable problem of two well-accepted tenets involving black holes. He thinks he's figured out how information "escapes" the holes, which "ain't as black as painted."

  • 'Gospel of Jesus' Wife' Mystery Has New Twist: The authenticity of the "Gospel of Jesus' Wife," a scrap of papyrus discovered in 2012, has been the subject of much claim and counterclaim. Even the very ink is hard to test because the scrap is so small. But new ink research at Columbia University suggests the document could indeed date back to ancient times.
  • For Some, Being Single Brings the Most Happiness: Sociologists find that people in relationships tend to be happier and more satisfied than single people, but a new study makes clear that for some, being single is the way to be. There's one group of people in specific that may feel more content in the single life (though scientists think they might benefit from therapy).
  • Stare Into a Person's Eyes and Weird Things Happen: Want to experience LSD-like hallucinations without actually having to ingest any drugs? Try staring into someone's eyes in a dimly lit room for 10 minutes. It has to do with a process called "disassociation."
  • 29% of Young Americans Are Some Degree of Bisexual: Gay, straight, or in between? When asked to place themselves on a sexuality scale, almost a third of young Americans consider themselves some degree of bisexual, a polling website has found. Guess how their Brit counterparts scored.
Click to read about more discoveries, including how some people are born without a mind's eye, and how the polio virus lingered in a man's gut for decades. (More discoveries stories.)

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