discoveries

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

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Elephants Console Each Other
 Elephants Console Each Other 
Feb 19, 2014 5:27 PM CST

Elephants Console Each Other

They comfort distressed pals, says study

(Newser) - Elephants not only recognize when a member of their group is stressed, they offer comfort in the form of reassuring touches and chirping noises, reports National Geographic . The "comforting" trait is rare among animals, with dogs, chimps, and we humans among the few to have it. Researchers in Thailand...

One Monkey Controls Another, Avatar-Style

Brain, spine implants link animals' movements

(Newser) - In the movie Avatar, a paralyzed soldier uses a computer to control a body remotely. In a new study, scientists have moved a little closer to making that story a reality, LiveScience reports. US researchers installed electrodes into a "master" monkey's brain and an "avatar" monkey's...

Newly Found Species' Males Killed by 'Frenzied' Mating

The black-tailed antechinus' males don't make it past the age of one

(Newser) - As far as newly discovered species go, this is an unusual one. Australian scientists have identified a new kind of antechinus, a mouse-like marsupial with some odd notoriety. As the Telegraph reports, the males die before their first birthday—due to the "extreme stress" of their "frenzied mating....

Cats May See Things That Are Invisible to Us

Dogs and reindeer, too

(Newser) - If you saw the world through the eyes of your pet, you'd very likely be seeing a lot more than you currently do. That according to new research that has found that cats, dogs, and select other animals may be able to see things that are invisible to the...

Source of Stonehenge's Rocks Pinpointed

And it raises questions about how the bluestones got to Stonehenge

(Newser) - For nine decades, it's been established that many of Stonehenge's smaller rocks hail from the Preseli Hills in Wales. Now, a newly published study says that we've been wrong about an outcrop that has been accepted as a specific source since 1923. And the new research, published...

Scientists Build a Better Potato

... or at least one that seems resistant to blight

(Newser) - It's about 175 years late for those who perished in the Irish Potato Famine, but British researchers think they've created a potato resistant to blight, reports the Irish Times . They borrowed a gene from a South American spud and added it to the common Desiree potato. After three...

Aztec Dog Graveyard Unearthed
 Aztec Dog Graveyard Unearthed 
Feb 17, 2014 4:00 AM CST

Aztec Dog Graveyard Unearthed

First-of-its-kind find puzzles Mexico archeologists

(Newser) - Archeologists have been amazed to discover what may have been an ancient pet cemetery under an apartment building in Mexico City. The Aztecs believed the spirits of dogs could guide human souls to the afterlife or protect buildings, but this is the first time a group of dogs has been...

Study: Shroud of Turin Created by Huge Earthquake
Study: Shroud of Turin Created by Huge Earthquake
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 16, 2014 10:34 AM CST

Study: Shroud of Turin Created by Huge Earthquake

Italian researchers believe that also explains the radiocarbon dating results

(Newser) - It's been a long-running debate: Is the Shroud of Turin a fake? A new entrant in the "no" category emerges from the pages of the journal Meccanica, where Italian researchers suggest that an 8.2-magnitude earthquake that rocked Jerusalem in 33AD both formed the image and distorted the...

Erasing Almost All Life on Earth Took Just 60K Years
Erasing Almost All Life on Earth Took Just 60K Years
in case you missed it
Feb 15, 2014 7:00 PM CST

Erasing Almost All Life on Earth Took Just 60K Years

Study: That's give or take 48K years, 'practically instantaneous'

(Newser) - Roughly 252 million years ago, an extreme animal die-off occurred: 70% of land animals and 96% of marine life were obliterated, in what's known as the Permian mass extinction. What scientists still don't exactly know is why (an asteroid? volcanic eruptions?), but they now know how long it...

5 Most Incredible Discoveries of the Week

Crocodiles can do what?

(Newser) - A strange fact to keep in mind when being chased by a crocodile and an important find about the origins of the first Americans make the list:
  • Crocodiles Can Climb Trees : As far as discoveries go, this is a somewhat terrifying one, assuming one has a healthy respect for crocodiles
...

Crazy Ants Have Secret Weapon in Insect War
Crazy Ants Have Secret Weapon in Insect War
STUDY SAYS
Feb 14, 2014 1:42 PM CST

Crazy Ants Have Secret Weapon in Insect War

Can produce antidote to fire ant poison: study

(Newser) - When we first introduced you to crazy ants , we mentioned they might pose a threat to fire ants. As fire ants aren't the friendliest of insects, that probably didn't sound so terrible. Except that now, crazy ants are indeed driving away fire ants via a remarkable built-in antidote...

Scientists: We've Found Amazon River's True Source

They believe it's Peru's Mantaro River

(Newser) - It's an argument that's persisted for nearly four centuries: Where does the Amazon River begin? The question is complicated by the number of tributaries that feed into it, with at least five Peruvian rivers grabbing the title at some point since the mid-1600s. Now, a group of researchers...

Ancient Viking Carving Yields ... a Love Note

PhD student deciphers mysterious codes from 12th and 13th centuries

(Newser) - A PhD student thinks he's deciphered a 900-year-old carving that has long puzzled experts—and it's basically a valentine. The carving appears to be based on a code that subs in numbers for runes and, when deciphered, reads "kiss me," Jonas Nordby from the University of...

Doctors Find 44-Year-Old Fetus in Woman, 84

Brazilian woman says she became pregnant decades ago

(Newser) - In a story as bizarre as it is deja vu-ish , a 44-year-old fetus has been found in an 84-year-old Brazilian woman. The Daily Mail reports by way of G1 that the discovery came last Friday, when the woman's intense stomach pains landed her in a hospital in Tocantins state...

Infant's DNA Pinpoints Origins of First Americans

The Clovis people descended from Asians, not Europeans

(Newser) - The DNA from a single infant is shining a light on the true origins of the first Americans. The headline-generating research relies on the DNA of a child buried roughly 12,600 years ago, and establishes that the first North Americans were born to humans who came to the New...

Scientists: Raindrops Aren't Shaped Like Tears at All

They actually resemble hamburger bun tops

(Newser) - It turns out you've been drawing raindrops incorrectly your entire life. NASA scientists have determined that they don't actually resemble tears. They look more like hamburger bun tops: rounded above, flat on the bottom. As a video made by NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement explains, a raindrop begins...

New Fossil Find One of History's Greatest

3K fossils, 55 species found in Canada's Kootenay National Park

(Newser) - Researchers in Canada have made an "extraordinary" find: a vast collection of fossils that offer an in-depth look at prehistoric life. The site in Kootenay National Park is being compared to what experts call one of history's greatest fossil finds, a 1909 discovery about 26 miles away in...

Study: Crocodiles Able to Climb Trees

Which is just freaky

(Newser) - As far as discoveries go, this is a somewhat terrifying one, assuming one has a healthy respect for crocodiles on the ground: They can climb and perch in trees. And they can really climb, with researchers spotting them more than a dozen feet from the ground. While anecdotal reports have...

Mammograms Don&#39;t Reduce Cancer Deaths
 Mammograms Don't 
 Reduce Cancer Deaths 
STUDY SAYS
Feb 12, 2014 5:04 AM CST

Mammograms Don't Reduce Cancer Deaths

Researchers warn of 'overdiagnosis'

(Newser) - A wide-ranging, long-term study has cast doubt on the value of annual breast X-rays—and sparked fierce debate in the medical world. The study of 90,000 Canadian women over 25 years suggests annual mammograms could be useless or possibly worse than useless: the death rate from breast cancer and...

Scientists: Here's Why Climate Change 'Paused'

High winds are forcing heat underwater—at least for now

(Newser) - Global-warming skeptics, en garde: A new study says that the recent pause in global warming is caused by strong trade winds in the Pacific Ocean that will eventually subside, the Guardian reports. According to the study , sharply higher winds in the central and eastern parts of the Pacific have pushed...

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