discoveries

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

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To Regenerate Immune System: Fast for 3 Days?

Body makes new white blood cells: researchers

(Newser) - Scientists in California believe they have a tip for those with weakened immune systems: Fast for three days. The brief period "flips a regenerative switch" in the body, the University of Southern California researchers say, via the Telegraph : "It gives the 'OK' for stem cells to go...

We Got Earth's Birthday Wrong by 60M Years

Same goes for the moon, say scientists

(Newser) - The planet we're living on is about 60 million years older than previously thought. So say scientists in France who studied quartz from Australia and South Africa that dates back about 3 billion years, reports Phys.org . The ratio of gases in the quartz compared to today's ratios...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including the answer to an old question about the moon

(Newser) - A common ancestor for vertebrates and the discovery of a massive underground ocean make the list:
  • Your Jaw May Come From This Little Fish : Introducing Metaspriggina, a minnow-sized fish that lived about 500 million years ago and appears to occupy a crucial branch of your family tree. Scientists say the
...

Water 'Missing for Decades' Found 400 Miles Beneath US

But the water is neither liquid, ice, nor vapor: researchers

(Newser) - Four hundred miles beneath the United States, there appears to be enough water to fill all our oceans—almost three times. Researchers have for the first time discovered direct evidence of the water, which exists as a fourth form: not liquid, not ice, not vapor, but hydrogen and oxygen molecules...

Bachelor Party Unearths Ancient Remains

Revelers appear to have stumbled upon an intact stegomastodon skull

(Newser) - Many bachelor parties' participants get more than they bargained for, but for one group of revelers at Elephant Butte Lake State Park in New Mexico, what they got on Monday could turn out to be historic. "As we are cruising by we see ... what seems to be a large...

Your Jaw May Come From This Ancient Fish

Minnow-sized creature had something akin to one 500M years ago

(Newser) - Introducing Metaspriggina, a minnow-sized fish that lived about 500 million years ago and appears to occupy a crucial branch of your family tree. Scientists say the creature might just be the ancestor of nearly all vertebrates, reports LiveScience . The revelation comes after study of dozens of remarkably well-preserved Metaspriggina fossils...

Long Sought-After Relic Found in Puget Sound?

900-pound anchor could be the one lost on a famous expedition in 1792

(Newser) - Six years after first discovering it, "amateur sleuths" rejoiced Monday after bringing a 900-pound anchor thought to be lost in 1792 to the surface in Washington state's Puget Sound. They hope to prove they've found the stream anchor that was reportedly lost exactly 222 years earlier, on...

Nagging Dark Side of Moon Question Answered

Scientists figure out why 'maria' is largely absent from far side

(Newser) - A lunar mystery that has persisted since 1959 has been solved, according to Penn State astrophysicists. That was the year in which a Soviet spacecraft captured the first images of the dark side of the moon—the side that always faces away from Earth. While the side we see features...

Male Face &#39;Evolved to Take Punches&#39;
 Male Face Evolved 
 to Take Punches 
STUDY SAYS
Jun 9, 2014 4:03 AM CDT

Male Face Evolved to Take Punches

Facial bones grew stronger after first fists evolved

(Newser) - The faces of today's men would be different if our ancestors hadn't spent countless thousands of years slugging it out with their newly evolved fists, scientists say. Researchers studying australopiths, human predecessors who lived 4 million to 5 million years ago, found that male faces evolved to become...

Are Light Bedrooms Making Us Fat?

We've seen 100 years of lighter bedrooms: expert

(Newser) - Here's an odd theory: Researchers at Oxford say one explanation for obesity might be … excessive light in our bedrooms. They aren't yet certain enough to advise a darkness boost, but a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that women had larger waistlines if their bedrooms...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Including some really old pants

(Newser) - Confirmation of a moon-creating blast and an insight into why koalas do what they do make the list:
  • Finally, Evidence of Other World That Helped Form Moon : A new analysis of three lunar rocks bolsters an old theory some thought too simple: that the moon was created when another planet,
...

Your Brain Builds Memories As You Sleep

Which means you should actually go to bed

(Newser) - As you sleep, your brain is actually forming new neural connections, helping you retain the things you learned during the day, according to a new study. Researchers in China and the US used advanced microscopy to peer inside the brains of mice who were learning a new skill. They found...

Finally, Evidence of Other World That Helped Form Moon

Lunar rocks bolster a long-held theory about how the moon was created

(Newser) - A new analysis of three lunar rocks brought back by Apollo astronauts in the '60s breathes new life into an old theory some thought too simple: that the moon was created when another planet, Theia, crashed into Earth billions of years ago, leaving behind molten debris that eventually cooled...

'Just Being Awake at Night' May Be Suicide Risk Factor

Study finds suicide rate peaks at 2am hour

(Newser) - People are more likely to commit suicide after midnight, and the suicide rate peaks between 2am and 3am, according to a new study. Using data from the American Time Use Survey, which calculates the proportion of Americans who are awake at any given hour, as well as the National Violent...

Scientists Find Bat Feared Extinct

Female from species not seen in more than a century is found (and killed)

(Newser) - Researchers studying bats in Papua New Guinea came across a long-lost friend in their nets: a female identified as a New Guinea big-eared bat, reports Scientific American . It's noteworthy because no specimen has been seen in 124 years, and the species was feared to be extinct. Now that a...

Most Centenarians Avoid Cancer, Heart Disease
Here's What Eventually
Kills Centenarians
study says
Jun 4, 2014 4:10 PM CDT

Here's What Eventually Kills Centenarians

New study looks at causes of death for the 100-and-over crowd

(Newser) - Centenarians really are different than most of us. A study in the UK has revealed that the oldest of the old typically die not of the chronic illnesses that often fell the “younger” elderly, but of infections or frailty, LiveScience reports. Out of almost 36,000 centenarians who died...

Reason Mammoths Went Extinct? Blame Humans

Massive die-off correlates with us, not so much climate change

(Newser) - What caused the extinctions of the wooly mammoth, giant sloth, mastodon, and other beasts? A new study makes a strong case that the answer is us. Scientists have long argued over the cause of the "Quaternary extinction"—which took out vast numbers of large mammals about 12,000...

Scientists Discover Why Koalas Hug Trees

It helps them stay cool amid Australia's heat

(Newser) - Using thermal cameras, researchers in Australia uncovered the science behind a habit that seems, well, cute: Koala bears hug trees to cool themselves. It turns out that tree trunks can be up to 12 degrees cooler than the air, and with Australia's recent hot spells rising well above 100...

World&#39;s Oldest Pair of Pants Found
World's Oldest Pair
of Pants Found
Jun 3, 2014 2:19 PM CDT

World's Oldest Pair of Pants Found

They were probably worn by ancient horse riders in China

(Newser) - Archaeologists working at an ancient graveyard in western China have unearthed what they say is the oldest pair of pants ever found, reports Science News . In fact, they found two pairs, and the clothing items are not only functional but relatively stylish. The wool pants were found with the remains...

How Hungry Maggots Spurred Rapid Evolution

Male crickets new to Kauai, Oahu have altered their wings in just 20 generations

(Newser) - Two sets of male crickets on neighboring Hawaiian islands have been able to avoid attracting deadly parasitic flies by simply shutting up. The crickets likely arrived from Oceania in the late 1990s, and the flies came from North America around the same time. When the crickets tried to lure nearby...

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