discoveries

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

Stories 41 - 60 | << Prev   Next >>

Researchers Find Telltale Alzheimer's Clues in Our Blood

Study identifies 4 biological markers, raising hope that a blood test for dementia is nearer

(Newser) - It's looking more and more likely that a blood test to predict Alzheimer's years before symptoms appear will be available in the not-too-distant future. In the latest development, researchers say they identified biological markers in stored blood samples that reliably forecast various forms of dementia nearly 15 years...

Insects Gather at Lights Because They&#39;re Confused
Insects Gather at Lights
Because They're Confused
NEW STUDY
Feb 4, 2024 2:15 PM CST

Insects Gather at Lights Because They're Confused

Artificial light at night can scramble insects' navigation systems, researcher says

(Newser) - Moths and other flying insects end up fluttering around artificial lights at night not because they find the light itself appealing, but because the light messes with their navigation systems, researchers say. Sam Fabian, co-author of a study published in the journal Nature Communications , says moths and other insects appear...

Finding May Explain Why Women Get Lupus More Often

Females' extra X chromosome appears to be a factor in autoimmune disorders

(Newser) - Women get autoimmune disorders such as lupus far more often than men, and a new study suggests the best explanation to date for why that is. It's all about the extra X chromosome that women carry, reports STAT News . More specifically, the study in the journal Cell focuses on...

Dino &#39;From Hell&#39; Suggests There Was No Decline
Dino 'From Hell' Suggests
There Was No Decline
NEW STUDY
Feb 1, 2024 12:50 PM CST

Dino 'From Hell' Suggests There Was No Decline

New caenagnathid species, and a possible second, suggest this dino family was doing fine

(Newser) - Paleontologists have been debating whether the asteroid that killed non-avian dinosaurs took out a varied group of thriving reptiles or one already in decline . Now, researchers say they've discovered a new dinosaur species whose very existence disputes the latter argument. The argument is largely based on apparent declines in...

Seaweed Could Help Us Survive Nuclear War
Seaweed Could
Save Us After Nuclear War
new study
Jan 31, 2024 2:40 PM CST

Seaweed Could Save Us After Nuclear War

Study finds it could help feed humanity ... if we can make it at least 9 months

(Newser) - Should our planet be ravaged by nuclear war, those who survive may not starve to death, or so suggests a new study. Yes, the million tons of radioactive dust and smoke and soot that result from the fires caused by the bombs will be sent into Earth's atmosphere, sharply...

Amelia Earhart's Plane? Experts Say Not So Fast

87-year-old debate continues over where the lost aviator may have ended up

(Newser) - Tony Romeo, chief executive of Deep Sea Vision, believes he's found Amelia Earhart's airplane during a search of 5,200 square miles of ocean floor. Other experts who've viewed the sonar image showing what Romeo is certain is a Lockheed 10-E Electra with two distinctive fin stabilizers...

For These 5, Alzheimer&#39;s Was Medically Acquired
Medical Miscue May Have
Given Patients Alzheimer's
NEW STUDY
Jan 30, 2024 11:49 AM CST

Medical Miscue May Have Given Patients Alzheimer's

Study suggests disease was triggered by human growth hormone shots derived from cadavers

(Newser) - Doctors once sought to make very short children taller by injecting them with growth hormone taken from the brains of dead people. The procedure was banned 40 years ago—and cadaver-derived pituitary growth hormone (c-hGH) replaced with a synthetic version—when scientists discovered patients had also received bits of protein...

For These Alzheimer&#39;s Patients, the Eyes Offer a Clue
For These Alzheimer's Patients,
the Eyes Offer a Clue
in case you missed it
Jan 28, 2024 7:00 AM CST

For These Alzheimer's Patients, the Eyes Offer a Clue

Vision issues may be early sign of posterior cortical atrophy, a rare form of the disease

(Newser) - Alzheimer's patients typically begin to show signs they have the disease via memory issues, but for some patients, an early warning sign arrives another way. Per the Washington Post , there's a rare variant of the condition, called posterior cortical atrophy , in which patients start having vision problems early...

Scientists Find an Ancient Syphilis Relative in Brazil

Research suggests the bacterium has been around for millennia

(Newser) - People who lived with painful mouth and skin sores on the south coast of Brazil some 2,000 years ago carried the oldest known evidence of a syphilis relative. Treponema pallidum, the bacterium that causes syphilis, is "one of the least well understood common bacterial infections," one expert...

In States With Abortion Bans, This Number Stands Out

There were 520K rapes in 14 states, resulting in 64K pregnancies

(Newser) - In September 2021, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott insisted that his state's strict six-week abortion ban was adequate time for women to obtain an abortion, and that he would "eliminate all rapists" in his state, implying that pregnancies from rape in Texas would eventually no longer be an issue....

Poop Seen From Space Leads to Emperor Penguin Discovery

4 colonies are newly identified

(Newser) - Scientists have spotted previously unknown colonies of emperor penguins in Antarctica, all thanks to poop that could be seen from space. As NBC News reports, Peter Fretwell with the British Antarctic Survey used satellite imagery to spot "tell-tale patches" of penguin guano against the white snow. It's encouraging...

In Welcome Spot on Mars, Frozen Water Apparently Hides
Massive Reserve of Ice
Found Near Equator of Mars
NEW STUDY
Jan 23, 2024 2:40 PM CST

Massive Reserve of Ice Found Near Equator of Mars

Huge deposits detected near a likely landing spot of future astronauts

(Newser) - Deep beneath Mars' equator lies what is believed to be a supply of frozen water that, if melted, would cover the entire planet in an ocean of at least 5 feet deep. That's according to the European Space Agency , whose Mars Express spacecraft discovered the suspected reserve of water...

Scientists Have New Theory on Dogs&#39; Tail Wagging
Which Side
of the Body
a Dog Wags
Matters
new study
Jan 22, 2024 7:39 AM CST

Which Side of the Body a Dog Wags Matters

On the right is more positive, left is more negative, researchers suggest

(Newser) - Dogs wag their tails because they're happy, right? Turns out, it might be because the tail-wagging makes people happy, reports the Washington Post . Or, as the researchers put it in their new study in Biology Letters , we humans have a "proclivity for rhythmic stimuli," and our forebears...

Biggest Deep Coral Reef Was 'Right Under Our Noses'

Enormous reef off East Coast is largest deep-sea reef ever discovered

(Newser) - Scientists have mapped the largest coral reef deep in the ocean, stretching hundreds of miles off the US Atlantic coast. While researchers have known since the 1960s that some coral were present off the Atlantic, the reef's size remained a mystery until new underwater mapping technology made it possible...

NASA Needs Your Help Unraveling Cosmic Mysteries

Agency calls for citizen scientists to catalog pulses of gamma rays as discoveries continue

(Newser) - NASA needs your help to identify massive explosions in space. The space agency is calling on citizen scientists to become "burst chasers" by joining a project to interpret gamma-ray bursts across the universe and "decode what the universe is saying," according to a release . Huge amounts of...

Archaeological Dig May 'Change the History' of Brazil

Scientists find relics that push back the time of first inhabitants by about 1.4K years

(Newser) - Archaeologists weren't too surprised when they began unearthing relics from a dig in northeastern Brazil. They were stunned, however, to keep finding relics the deeper they dug in the coastal city of Sao Luis, reports AFP . In all, they've unearthed four layers representing different eras of human habitation,...

Wearing Hearing Aids Could Be a Lifesaver
Wearing Hearing Aids
Could Be a Lifesaver
NEW STUDY
Jan 13, 2024 7:45 AM CST

Wearing Hearing Aids Could Be a Lifesaver

Study found the devices could reduce risk of early death by 24%

(Newser) - People with hearing loss overwhelmingly opt not to wear hearing aids, but a new study makes a strong case for scheduling a trip to the ENT. While the benefits hearing aids can contribute to long-term health have long been established, research now suggests that people who wear them are more...

Louisa May Alcott May Have Had Another Pen Name

Literary scholar Max Chapnick believes he's uncovered another Alcott pseudonym: EH Gould

(Newser) - Louisa May Alcott was a lot like her Little Women character Jo in that she, too, wrote stories to support her family. Before Little Women was published in two parts in 1868 and '69, the poor Alcott wrote melodramatic thrillers under the pen names AM Barnard, Tribulation Periwinkle, and...

This Modern-Looking Reptile Skin Is Nearly 300M Years Old
This Skin Is Nearly
300M Years Old
NEW STUDY
Jan 12, 2024 9:21 AM CST

This Skin Is Nearly 300M Years Old

Fossilized sample predating the dinosaurs represents oldest epidermis ever found

(Newser) - It looks a lot like crocodile skin, with a pebblelike texture someone might desire for a purse. But for the small sample size, you'd never guess it's 289 million years old, dating to the late Paleozoic Era, when many species were just beginning to venture from water to...

'Lost Valley of Cities' Found in Amazon

'Imagine that you discovered another civilization like the Maya'

(Newser) - After many years of research, French archaeologist Stéphen Rostain can deliver a very satisfying "I told you so" to people who told him there was no point in searching for ancient civilizations in the Amazon rainforest. Rostain and fellow researchers say they have discovered a "lost valley...

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