discoveries

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

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Lidar Find in Amazon Shows Signs of Societies Before Europeans

Survey uncovers hundreds of ceremonial earthworks from pre-Columbian Aquiry society

(Newser) - Archaeologists just took a laser to the Amazon, and it lit up a very different past. A sweeping aerial survey documented in Nature using lidar technology has revealed close to 400 previously unknown earthworks beneath the rainforest canopy near the borders of Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru, suggesting that large, organized...

Mummy DNA Shows Americas Can Thank Colonists for Smallpox

And it decimated native populations

(Newser) - Ancient mummy DNA recovered in Chile has yielded the firmest evidence yet that European colonization brought smallpox to the Americas. Smallpox was one of the deadliest diseases in human history before it was eradicated in 1980, largely thanks to vaccination. For centuries, the virus killed about one-third of the people...

This Could Be the First Meteor Crater Found by an Amateur

Researchers confirm Quebec crater spotted by a camper in 2024 is 390M years old

(Newser) - Planning a camping trip on Google Maps turned into a deep-time discovery for an amateur astronomer in Quebec. While scouting locations in 2024, Joël Lapointe noticed what looked like an odd depression in the Côte-Nord region—now confirmed as a previously unknown, 15-mile-wide impact crater roughly 390 million...

Orcas Spotted for First Time With Bizarre Hunting Strategy

One whale holds a large sunfish in its mouth, and another rams it into smithereens

(Newser) - Killer whales have been caught on camera turning big fish into something like confetti—and scientists say it's a move no one had documented before. In two separate videos from the Gulf of California, one orca is seen gripping a sharp-tail sunfish while another slams into it head-on, hard...

Monkeys May Share Humans' Built-In Sense of Geometry
Monkeys Intuit
Shapes Much
Like Humans Do
NEW STUDY
Jul 21, 2026 7:23 AM CDT

Monkeys Intuit Shapes Much Like Humans Do

Study finds baboons, macaques seem to share people's built-in sense of geometry

(Newser) - Monkeys apparently don't need a math class to get the gist of geometry. A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that olive baboons and rhesus macaques not only recognize basic geometric relationships, they seem to process them in similar ways as humans do,...

Boys' Social Media Use Tied to Rising ADHD Symptoms

Study suggests 'addictive' use precedes worsening attention symptoms in boys down the road

(Newser) - Boys who say they can't put down social media may be more likely to show worsening ADHD symptoms a year later, a large new study suggests. Researchers at UC San Francisco tracked more than 11,000 US kids from about age 12 to 16 and found that when a...

Scientists Find Nearby Planet With an Atmosphere
Scientists Find Nearby
Planet With an Atmosphere
new study
Jul 17, 2026 10:25 AM CDT

Scientists Find Nearby Planet With an Atmosphere

Leaking helium was the telltale clue

(Newser) - Astronomers say a nearby "super-Earth" just checked a crucial box: It appears to have an atmosphere. The planet, LHS 1140b, sits a few dozen light-years away in the "just right" zone around a small red dwarf star, where temperatures could allow liquid water, reports the New York Times ...

After Years of Searching, a Stunning Find in Congo

Previously unknown monkey with orange lips confirmed after lengthy scientific search

(Newser) - Many new species reported these days are plants, tiny insects, and marine animals hiding in ocean depths, which is why the discovery of a previously unknown monkey with vivid pinkish-orange lips is so outstanding. Scientists have confirmed that the black-furred monkey now named Colobus congoensis—found to have diverged from...

Hidden Planet Discovered Twice in One Week

Days apart, two research teams separately identify third planet orbiting Beta Pictoria

(Newser) - Astronomers have discovered a faint, elusive planet orbiting a young star after more than a decade of cosmic hide-and-seek. In an unusual twist, two groups working independently detected the cold gas giant a few days apart late last year using different telescopes, the AP reports. It's the dimmest planet...

Cannabis Combo Eases Agitation From Dementia
Cannabis Combo Eases
Agitation From Dementia
NEW STUDY
Jul 14, 2026 7:16 AM CDT

Cannabis Combo Eases Agitation From Dementia

Early clinical trial finds THC/CBD oil eased symptoms in 90% of those who took it

(Newser) - Doctors may one day add a new tool to the dementia tool kit: a tightly controlled cannabis oil. In a small trial of 120 people with advanced dementia, nearly 90% of those given a THC/CBD oil for 12 weeks showed reduced agitation, compared with less than 25% who were administered...

Astronomers Make Sweet Discovery in Space Between Stars

They detected a type of sugar 'just floating out in the galaxy'

(Newser) - The space between stars just got a little sweeter. Astronomers have detected a type of sugar in space that's also found in raspberries and self-tanners. The sugar, called erythrulose, lurks in what's called the interstellar medium: thin clouds of gas and dust littered between stars, the AP reports....

That Powder You Put in Your Gym Shake May Have Another Benefit
Creatine May Do
More Than Boost
Muscle Performance
NEW STUDY
Jul 12, 2026 1:45 PM CDT

Creatine May Do More Than Boost Muscle Performance

Scientists say supplement often used by gym rats may also help fight cancer

(Newser) - Creatine's reputation as a gym staple may be getting an upgrade. UCLA researchers report that the supplement, best known for boosting muscle performance, also appears to energize key immune cells that help the body target tumors—at least in mice and lab-grown human cells, reports the Independent . In a...

Ultrasound Breakthrough Helps Save Twins With Rare Syndrome

Noninvasive, high-intensity waves rebalance blood flow in womb for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome

(Newser) - A nonsurgical blast of sound may offer new hope to some of the riskiest twin pregnancies. Doctors in London have tested a focused ultrasound technique to treat twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome , or TTTS, a rare condition for a patient with child (or, in this case, children) in which identical twins sharing...

Site Yields Pair of 2K-Year-Old Gold Rings

Archaeologists in Thailand think jewelry has ties to ancient India; engraved with 'the one protected by Pushya'

(Newser) - Two gold rings aged around 2,000 years old were discovered during an excavation at a new archaeological site in western Thailand, officials said. The rings were found with human bones during an ongoing dig at the Don Yai Thong archaeological site in Phetchaburi province last week, the Thai government'...

Surprising Possible Benefit for Women on Weight Loss Meds

Unemployed women on drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy saw 27% hiring increase after 18 months

(Newser) - A new working paper suggests that the power of popular weight-loss drugs may extend to the job market. In a report published by the National Bureau of Economic Research , Harvard economist Rebecca Diamond analyzed survey data from more than 10,000 adults and found that unemployed women who started taking...

Researchers Take Big Step Toward Making Synthetic Life

Lab-grown "SpudCells" mimic growth, replication and division

(Newser) - Scientists in Minnesota say they've built something from scratch that's not alive—but behaves like it was. Synthetic biologist Kate Adamala and her team created "SpudCells": tiny, wobbling spheres assembled from non-living chemicals that can grow, copy their synthetic DNA, and split into "offspring," according...

Female Dolphins Remember, Avoid Aggressive Males
Female Dolphins Remember,
Avoid Aggressive Males
new study
Jun 26, 2026 12:12 PM CDT

Female Dolphins Remember, Avoid Aggressive Males

Study suggests they try to steer clear of them in the future

(Newser) - Female bottlenose dolphins appear to have a long memory when it comes to rough suitors—and they steer clear of them in the future, a new study suggests. Researchers watching Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in Australia's Shark Bay found that females use males' "signature whistles" like audio name tags,...

We've Been Laughing Like Apes for Millions of Years

Study links shared laughter rhythms to speech evolution

(Newser) - Humans didn't invent the chuckle so much as refine it, suggests new research out of the University of Warwick. In recordings of 17 great apes and four people—from orangutans to gorillas—researchers analyzed 140 bouts of laughter and found they all followed the same steady beat: evenly spaced bursts...

These Planets Are as Light as Cotton Candy
Meet the 'Super-Puff' Planets
NEW STUDY
Jun 25, 2026 9:50 AM CDT

Meet the 'Super-Puff' Planets

Citizen scientists help uncover rare gas giants, as light as cotton candy

(Newser) - If Jupiter were as light as spun sugar, it might look a lot like this pair. Astronomers have confirmed two "super-puff" gas giants, TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c, whose densities rival cotton candy or shaving foam, per the AP . The planets, about as large as Jupiter but 35 times less...

Spider Creates Nature's Most Powerful Catapult

Trap flings dangerous green tree ants into web at extreme g-forces

(Newser) - Australia's latest weird wonder doesn't just catch its dinner—it slingshots it. Researchers in northern Queensland say they've found a tiny, as-yet-unnamed spider that builds a spring-loaded silk trap to launch a single prey species, the aggressive green tree ant, into its web at forces far beyond...

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