discoveries

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Eli Lilly Diabetes Drug Spurs Record Weight Loss in Trials

Some lost nearly a quarter of their body weight over 80 weeks using 'triple agonist' medication

(Newser) - A new entrant in the weight-loss drug race just posted eye-catching numbers. NBC News reports that Eli Lilly's experimental shot retatrutide helped people with Type 2 diabetes shed as much as 60 pounds—about 23% of their body weight—over 80 weeks, according to late-stage trial results in the...

In Dog-vs-Bear Encounters, the Dog Usually Starts It
Study Upends Usual Narrative
in Dog-vs-Bear Fights
new study
Sep 28, 2026 11:00 AM CDT

Study Upends Usual Narrative in Dog-vs-Bear Fights

Study suggests that unleashed pets are usually the instigators

(Newser) - Dog-versus-bear tales tend to go viral—but a new analysis suggests the reality of what unfolds is different than most imagine. Researchers combed through 326 documented dog-bear encounters from 1901 to 2023 and found that dogs initiated more than half of them, or 54%, reports the New York Times ...

Dogs Have a 'Consonant Bias'


Dogs Have
a 'Consonant
Bias'
in case you missed it
Sep 27, 2026 11:00 AM CDT

Dogs Have a 'Consonant Bias'

Study finds they zero in on consonants over vowels, similar to humans

(Newser) - Dogs may not grasp grammar, but they seem to zero in on speech patterns the same way humans do. A new study in Science suggests canines have a "consonant bias"—they pay more attention to consonants than vowels when we're talking to them. To figure this out,...

Amateur Archaeologist Finds Massive Hoard of Ancient Coins
Amateur Archaeologist Finds
Massive Hoard of Ancient Coins
in case you missed it
Sep 26, 2026 2:20 PM CDT

Amateur Archaeologist Finds Massive Hoard of Ancient Coins

Hoard of silver Roman coins is biggest ever found in Germany

(Newser) - An amateur archaeologist who discovered several Roman silver coins in a field in western Germany realized he had stumbled upon something bigger when his metal detector kept beeping, the AP reports. Oliver Riedl called the authorities for help and a group of experts who began digging immediately discovered a total...

These Elephants Are Managing Their Own Forest Pharmacy

Researchers say Kenyan creatures use nearly 3 dozen local plant species as medicine

(Newser) - Elephants in the forests of Kenya's Mount Elgon region may be running their own version of a pharmacy, researchers say. A new study based on interviews with wildlife scouts and community elders concludes that the region's "salt-mining" elephants deliberately consume at least 35 plant species when unwell,...

Water Project Dig Unearths an Ancient 'Beast'

Rare 40M-year-old mammal fossils discovered beneath Oceanside, Calif.

(Newser) - Crews digging for a water project in Oceanside, Calif., just hit a very big, very old surprise. About 12 feet down, workers uncovered limb bones, ribs, and other fragments from a large hoofed mammal that roamed the region roughly 40 million years ago, scientists say. Paleontologist Joseph El Adli thinks...

'Really Unique' Amoeba Thrives in California's Hot Springs

Heat-loving I. cascadensis , aka the 'fire amoeba,' challenges assumptions on complex life

(Newser) - An amoeba that shrugs off heat that would wreck most complex cells has turned up in a California national park. Syracuse University researchers say the microbe, dubbed the "fire amoeba," can grow at 145 degrees Fahrenheit and survive blasts up to 158 degrees, pushing past what scientists thought...

US Alcohol Use Finally Dips, but With a Caveat
It's a Good News/Bad
News Report on Booze
NEW STUDY
Sep 22, 2026 6:55 AM CDT

It's a Good News/Bad News Report on Booze

US alcohol use is finally dipping, but older adults are drinking much more since 2018

(Newser) - Americans may finally be easing up on the booze, but doctors say a toast may be premature. A new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds that both overall drinking and heavy drinking among adults dipped between 2022 and 2024—the first downturn seen since alcohol use spiked early...

Newly Identified Tiny Wild Cat Does Not Like His Celebrity

Tigrino, a member of Leopardus tilcayo who weighs in at 3lbs, is drawing crowds of visitors in Bolivia

(Newser) - A tiny wild cat hidden away in the cloud forests of Bolivia has become an unlikely tourist attraction, drawing a stream of visitors hoping for a glimpse of the animal that scientists have identified as a brand new species . There is just one problem: Tigrino, as he has been affectionately...

In Trip Out of a 'Disney Movie,' Wild Dogs Smash a Record

African wild dogs traveled 2.5K-plus miles over 9 months, the longest journey of any African mammal

(Newser) - A pack of canine siblings just set an African record, and it's not for speed. A new study in Ecology tracks three male African wild dogs from Zambia's Kafue National Park as they roamed more than 2,500 miles over nine months—farther than any African mammal previously...

Humans Have Something in Common With T. Rex
Humans Have Something
in Common With T. Rex
new study
Sep 18, 2026 12:34 PM CDT

Humans Have Something in Common With T. Rex

Turns out, the dinosaur's body temperature was similar to ours

(Newser) - Using fossilized teeth, scientists have finally taken the T. rex's temperature—and it wasn't too different from our own. Readings from three teeth revealed an average body temperature of about 97 degrees Fahrenheit, per the AP . That's similar to modern elephants and close to the average body...

Our Brains May Be Two Brains in One
Our Brains May Be
Two Brains in One
new study
Sep 18, 2026 12:17 PM CDT

Our Brains May Be Two Brains in One

Stanford study reveals dual evolutionary origins

(Newser) - Your brain may be more of a duet than a solo act. A new study in Nature Neuroscience suggests that the human brain is essentially two ancient nervous systems that evolved separately but now function as one tightly linked organ, reports the Telegraph . By tracking the earliest stages of brain...

NASA Spots Huge New Moon Crater
NASA Spots Huge
New Moon Crater
Sep 16, 2026 3:15 PM CDT

NASA Spots Huge New Moon Crater

It's a 'statistically rare, effectively once-in-a-lifetime observation'

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered a crater on the moon that's bigger than the Roman Colosseum and is the result of a powerful impact two years ago that initially went undetected. The steep-sided hole—about 728 feet across and up to 141 feet deep—is the solar system's biggest known impact...

It's 'the Discovery of the Decade' in Peru

Archaeologists uncover Chan Chan's first untouched tomb, linked to Chimu elite

(Newser) - Archaeologists in Peru say they've hit on something they'd never seen before at the ancient Chimu capital of Chan Chan: an elite tomb complex left untouched by looters and a conquering Incan army. Buried beneath the sprawling pre-Inca adobe city near Trujillo, the 600-year-old mausoleum, dating to immediately before or...

World's Farmers Are Enduring a Concerning 'Scale of Suffering'

Research shows nearly half of them globally have been poisoned by pesticides

(Newser) - Nearly half the people who grow the world's food are getting sick from the chemicals used to protect it, according to new research flagged by the Guardian . A study published in Frontiers in Public Health estimates there are 402 million to 433 million cases of unintentional acute pesticide poisoning...

Dentists Will Have a Field Day With This Tooth

Well-preserved specimen from Pacific mastodon found in creek in San Francisco Bay Area

(Newser) - Brigid Lynch was working along a wooded creek in a mountainous part of the San Francisco Bay Area when something that didn't look like the rocks she'd been studying caught her eye. "I keep joking it wasn't hard to find," Lynch, a geomorphologist at Balance Hydrologics, said...

Sniffer Dogs Make Mistakes When They're Hungry
Sniffer Dogs Make Mistakes
When They're Hungry
new study
Sep 11, 2026 12:57 PM CDT

Sniffer Dogs Make Mistakes When They're Hungry

Researchers see more false alarms in scent tests when the pooches haven't eaten

(Newser) - A new discovery about dogs is one that plenty of humans will be able to relate to, notes Gizmodo . It seems they don't perform well on an empty stomach. Researchers in Australia and New Zealand found that scent-detection dogs made more mistakes before breakfast than afterward. More specifically, the...

Presumed Ice Age Cave Art Rewrites Ireland's History

15K-year-old paintings predate oldest human evidence on the island

(Newser) - Ireland's earliest known residents may have walked in from Wales, researchers say, citing evidence written on cave walls. An international team has identified eight caves in southwest Ireland bearing engravings, ochre and charcoal paintings, and finger-drawn lines that they date to at least 15,000 years ago—about 5,000...

Psilocybin May Shield Nerves From Chemo Damage
Psilocybin May Shield
Nerves From Chemo Damage
NEW STUDY
Sep 4, 2026 1:39 PM CDT

Psilocybin May Shield Nerves From Chemo Damage

Mouse study finds 'magic mushroom' compound helped prevent neuropathy from cancer treatment

(Newser) - A psychedelic best known for inspiring visions might one day be used to spare cancer patients from a painful chemo side effect. A new mouse study in Science suggests that psilocybin, the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms," helped prevent chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy —nerve damage that can cause...

4K-Year-Old Tomb Found Intact in Egypt

Tomb of Old Kingdom royal official contains false door, complete set of ritual tools

(Newser) - A doorway meant for the dead, not the living, is the star of Egypt's latest find at Saqqara. Archaeologists there have uncovered a seemingly untouched 4,000-year-old tomb belonging to a high-ranking official named Sekhentiu-Ptah, complete with a "false door," officials announced. Ancient Egyptians believed such carved doors allowed the...

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