Aerial laser mapping detects thousands of hidden structures in Peten region, suggesting its population was millions more than previously thought

Orcas talk! Well, one has, anyway: a study involving a killer whale called Wikie has revealed that orcas can imitate human speech. Researchers have shown that killer whales able to copy words such as “hello”, “one, two” and ‘bye bye’ as well as sounds from other orcas. A great leap for our species, however, is the news that doctors in Newcastle have selected the first patients to undergo treatment which will result in ‘three-person babies’. Both women chosen for the radical therapy carry mutations that cause rare and devastating genetic disease. Another promising advance is the creation of a nasal spray filled soluble nanoparticles of natural painkiller, which could replace addictive opioids. After a successful lab trial, the team are now fundraising for human clinical trials. And finally, two pieces of archaeological excellence. Firstly, a beautiful 1,300-year-old Anglo-Saxon gold and garnet cross – found, intriguingly, on the body of a teenager buried in her own bed – has been given to a Cambridge museum. Secondly (and, indeed, finally) archaeologists believe they may have found a campsite that was home to the architects of Stonehenge. Continue reading...

Posts with alignment matching stone circle are discovered on army land at nearby LarkhillA team of archaeologists believe they may have discovered a spot where some of the architects of Stonehenge gathered and camped. Continue reading...

A stint in space showed the ESA astronaut Earth’s fragility – and convinced him international cooperation is urgently neededAs divisions between them widen on Earth, space must be where countries show they can work together for a common good, France’s best-known astronaut has said in a powerful plea for international cooperation beyond the final frontier.“From up there, the Earth seems so small, so tiny, so … the same,” said Thomas Pesquet, who spent 196 days, 17 hours and 49 minutes in space on the 50th and 51st expeditions to the International Space Station (ISS), returning in June last year.

Exclusive: health experts warn increasing popularity of industrially-made food will lead to negative effects such as obesity and poor healthHalf of all the food bought by families in the UK is now “ultra-processed”, made in a factory with industrial ingredients and additives invented by food technologists and bearing little resemblance to the fruit, vegetables, meat or fish used to cook a fresh meal at home.Research by global nutrition experts reveals the scale of our food evolution, from farm-fresh to factory-manufactured. “Real food” has been replaced by salty snacks and sugary cereals, industrially-made bread and desserts, ready-meals and reconstituted meats alongside sweetened soft drinks. Continue reading...

Money, cultural background and geographic location are crucial in determining survival ratesThis week Cancer Council released new data forecasting cancer survival trends into the future. The statistics, outlining an expected 72% increase in the number of Australians living with cancer or in remission by the year 2040, were startling – but even more concerning are the trends that show the gap between the haves and have-nots when it comes to cancer survival.

Male illness now third most common cause of cancer death behind lung and bowelProstate cancer has become the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK, overtaking breast cancer, despite improvements in survival rates for both.The top cancer killer in the UK is lung cancer, which claimed 35,486 lives in 2015, followed by colorectal cancer, with a toll of 16,067 people.

Space company Energia will offer ‘comfortable’ flights for up to six people onboard the NEM-2 moduleRussia is planning to send paying tourists on the International Space Station out on spacewalks for the first time, an official from the country’s space industry said Thursday.

Painkiller taken by mother in first three months of pregnancy could potentially reduce child’s number of eggs, say researchersIbuprofen taken by women in their first three months of pregnancy might reduce a daughter’s number of eggs, potentially affecting the child’s future fertility, according to research carried out on human cells in the lab.It is generally thought that women are born with a fixed number of eggs, although controversial recent research has challenged the idea that adult ovaries are unable to produce more.

Official figures underestimate how common bites are, say researchers, with odds of men being bitten 81% higher than for womenAnxious people and men are much more likely to be the victims of dog bites, according to new research which indicates bites are far more common than current official estimates suggest.The study, based on a survey of almost 700 people, found that nearly a quarter of people said they had been bitten at least once during their life. Continue reading...

Dismay at south-east Asian outbreaks of malaria resistant to artemisinin drugs, the most powerful drugs currently availableUrgent action must be taken to stop the spread of drug-resistant malaria in south-east Asia and potentially beyond, according to scientists.The outbreak in Cambodia, then Thailand, Laos and most recently Vietnam, of malaria that is untreatable with the newest and best drugs we have has alarmed experts. There have been calls for the World Health Organisation to declare a public health emergency of international concern, as it did with Ebola in west Africa and Zika virus in Brazil. Continue reading...

The animals facing an increasing struggle to find enough food to survive as climate change steadily transforms their environmentPolar bears could be sliding towards extinction faster than previously feared, with the animals facing an increasing struggle to find enough food to survive as climate change steadily transforms their environment.New research has unearthed fresh insights into polar bear habits, revealing that the Arctic predators have far higher metabolisms than previously thought. This means they need more prey, primarily seals, to meet their energy demands at a time when receding sea ice is making hunting increasingly difficult for the animals. Continue reading...

Two women carrying mutations that cause rare genetic disease to undergo radical therapyDoctors in Newcastle have been granted permission to create Britain’s first “three-person babies” for two women who are at risk of passing on devastating and incurable genetic diseases to their children.The green light from the fertility regulator means that doctors at the Newcastle Fertility Centre will now attempt to make healthy embryos for the women by merging fertilised eggs created through standard IVF with DNA from female donors.

Understanding causal inference, one aspect of philosophy of science, is key to making our research reliable

Wikie the orca is more mimic than raconteur, but the potential is awesome. Imagine dolphins tackling politicians on pollutionA bridge in cultures has occurred. A cognitive chasm between intelligent creatures has been crossed. Of all the spectacular times for you to be alive, you happen to have been born in an age when killer whales started talking to the damn dirty apes who were willing to listen. Though this sounds like some sort of sci-fi dream/nightmare, I am here to assure you that this is real. Remain calm, but stay vigilant around all marine mammals at this time. We may be in for a rocky time, as you shall discover.Let us begin by examining the facts. First, it’s true. As you may have heard by now, a captive killer whale called Wikie, housed at Marineland in Antibes, France, is uttering noises that mimic the human sounds “Hello” and “Bye-bye” as well as “One, two, three” plus, apparently, the haunting word “Amy” – the name of its trainer. Predictably, within hours of the release of the scientific paper, Wikie has become something of an online celebrity. Continue reading...

Hannah Devlin explores why 2018 is such a bumper year for seasonal flu and asks how scientists are trying to fight backSubscribe & Review on iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud & Acast, and join the discussion on Facebook and TwitterLast week, Public Health England announced that this winter three times as many people have died from flu compared to the previous year. Australia saw a doubling in the number of deaths, and figures were also up in Europe and the US. But what is it about this year’s seasonal flu that has proved so aggressive? How do outbreaks of seasonal flu differ from pandemics of the past? And how can science help us fight back? Continue reading...

As campaigns such as Veganuary become more popular could the way westerners categorise what’s edible start to shift?Yesterday marked the end of “Veganuary”, the campaign to encourage people to try a vegan lifestyle for a month. Year on year the trend has grown. Might those one-month vegans change the habits of the rest of us - by changing what an animal is?Vegans shun all animal-derived products – meat, fish and leather obviously, but also eggs, dairy products, honey and wool. Beers refined using isinglass (derived from fish guts) are out, as would the new UK £5 and £10 notes, if they could be. The term itself was coined back in 1944, bringing together the start and end of the word VEGetariAN, as the next step on. Continue reading...

Many parts of the globe caught a glimpse of the moon as a giant crimson globe, thanks to a rare lunar trifecta that combines a total eclipse with a blue moon and super moon. The spectacle, which Nasa has coined a “super blue blood moon,” will grace the pre-dawn skies in the western US as the moon crosses into the shadow of the Earth and turns blood red.

This week’s extravaganza is a nice excuse for a documentary that takes in Apollo 12 astronauts, coral having sex and Pink FloydThe supermoon? Yes, I know this, and why it’s in the news. Now that it seems the president of the United States will be visiting us after all, in October, a supermoon will be our welcome. Protesters will line the street and, when the motorcade passes, they will bow, facing the other way, with their pants around their ankles – #ShowYourRumpToTrump – no, really, look it up. A super blue blood moon, though? Well, that I assume is when Prince Harry joins in, too, from an upstairs window of the palace. Yeah, get a load of this, Meghan says you’re a misogynist, and you’re not coming to the wedding … Oh, that will have already happened. Well, Michelle and Barack are there, top table, so yah boo sucks to you.The first earthling visitors were Soviet tortoises, launched into orbit in 1968. Are they still there, circling? Continue reading...

Garnet and gold cross discovered in 2011 on the body of a teenage girl buried lying in her own bedA beautiful gold and garnet cross, found on the breast of a teenage girl buried lying on her own bed about 1,300 years ago, has been presented to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge.The girl’s grave was found in 2011 by University of Cambridge archaeologists only a few miles from the museum, on land at Trumpington being developed for housing. The bed on which she lay – probably her own – had rotted into the soil centuries ago leaving only the iron supports, but the cross stitched onto the dress which became her shroud was still gleaming.

Risk of overdose could be far lower, say researchers, as fundraising for human clinical trials begins

In next five years greenhouse gases may push global warming past threshold set by Paris dealGlobal temperatures could break through the internationally agreed upper 1.5C limit within the next five years, according to a forecast by British scientists that raises fresh questions about the world’s efforts to tackle climate change.The Met Office forecasting service said that in the period from 2018 to 2022, annual global average temperatures are likely to exceed 1C above pre-industrial levels and could top the 1.5C threshold set as an aspiration by the global Paris climate change deal in 2015. Continue reading...

Women in their early thirties have a 1% chance of early birth, with the risk rising to 1.2% for those over 40, analysis showsMothers in their early 30s have the lowest chance of having a premature baby, new research has found, with the risk rising significantly once the mother passes 40.Records of more than 165,000 pregnant women were analysed, showing that the likelihood of having a baby more than three weeks early among women aged over 40 was 20% higher than those in their early 30s. However, the actual risk remained low, increasing from 1% to 1.2%. Continue reading...

Codeine is old hat yet still widely used in the community. We need better informed consumers with better educated and supported GPs and pharmacistsCodeine restriction is in keeping with our evolving understanding of pain and its best management.

Blue moon, super moon and blood moon will all coincide in 2018 for the first time since 1866

Playthings or formative figures? A closer look at the children’s books, films and plastic tat that kickstarted palaeontology careersI remember watching an episode of Noel’s House Party, a Saturday night prime time family friendly TV show with an elaborate set based in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom. Part variety show, pantomime, talk show, game show with puppets and candid camera skits that aired on British television in the 1990s. One segment of the show involved children undertaking a challenge to win some sort of 90s prize – probably a PlayStation or a lifetime supply of Sunny Delight or something.The challenge in the episode that sticks in the mind is one where a boy who was really into dinosaurs had to identify a bunch of dinosaur models correctly to win. Each dinosaur was under a cover on a plinth and were unveiled in turn for the boy to have a go at identifying. As a precocious young dinosaur fan myself I was glued to the TV under the expectant gaze of my family, waiting for me to deliver the right answers at home. As each one of the dinosaur models was unveiled I knew the correct identifications, as did the hopeful young contestant. He won the prize and everyone on the set proclaimed him as some kind of child genius (as I remember it). Continue reading...

A terrific book by a consummate storyteller and scientific expert considers the past and future of the body’s ability to fight disease and heal itselfNature wants to destroy you. Evolution has been driven by aggressive forces in which organisms will enact their livelihood at the expense of yours. Any top 10 list of the greatest killers in human history will not include war or famine, or guns or drugs. Of the voracious beasts that might feed off your flesh, lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) wouldn’t even scrape into the top 20. It is the smallest things in the living world that have had the biggest impact on humankind: malaria, plague, Spanish flu, cholera, tuberculosis, HIV/Aids and smallpox. These diseases are all caused by entities unseen until modern history. From smallest to largest, Aids, smallpox and flu are triggered by viruses, which are tiny compared with the bacteria that cause cholera, plague and tuberculosis, which themselves are dwarfed by the single celled Plasmodium organisms that give us malaria – probably the single most lethal agent in our history.These instruments of death have in effect directed the development of one of the most underappreciated parts of human biology: our immune system. Daniel Davis’s terrific book attempts to redress this understandable oversight. There’s no gentle way of saying this: immunology is hard. Among the many ways we scientifically scrutinise ourselves, it doesn’t have the visceral and artistic merit of anatomy, the mysteries of the mind of psychology or the scientific sex appeal of genetics. The study of the immune system is complex, intricate, meticulous and fiddly. A couple of years of immunology at university was painful enough, and as a grown-up science writer and broadcaster, I confess that I have quietly avoided immunity-related research as much as is polite. Continue reading...

Climate experiment shows trees release water but stop absorbing carbon in extreme heatAustralian researchers growing trees in climate change conditions have found the leaves “sweat” to survive extreme heatwaves.The year-long experiment showed that trees continue to release water through their leaves as an evaporative cooling system during periods of extreme heat, despite the carbon-fixing process of photosynthesis grinding to a halt. Continue reading...

Study drawing on data from the Netherlands is the first to show how admissions to treatment centres rise and fall in line with cannabis strengthResearchers have found fresh evidence to suggest that more potent strains of cannabis are at least partly to blame for the number of people seeking help from drug treatment programmes.Scientists at King’s College London drew on data from the Netherlands to show that admissions to specialist treatment centres rose when coffee shops sold increasingly more potent cannabis, but fell again when the cannabis weakened. Continue reading...

Study concludes there is no need for an upper limit on folate, removing a further barrier to mandatory fortification that would prevent birth defectsBread and flour should be fortified with folic acid in the UK to help prevent babies from being born with neural tube defects such as spina bifida, according to new research.

Good-looking people also get treated better and therefore feel the world is just and fair, leading to ‘blind spot’ when trying to understand hardships of othersIt is a finding unlikely to prove popular with Guardian readers, but a study has concluded that attractive people are more likely to be rightwing.Previous research has found that those who are good-looking are generally treated better, achieve higher social status and earn more money, leading them to see the world as a just and fair place. Continue reading...

Killer whales able to copy words such as ‘hello’ and ‘bye bye’ as well as sounds from other orcas, study showsHigh-pitched, eerie and yet distinct, the sound of a voice calling the name “Amy” is unmistakable. But this isn’t a human cry – it’s the voice of a killer whale called Wikie.New research reveals that orcas are able to imitate human speech, in some cases at the first attempt, saying words such as “hello”, “one, two” and “bye bye”. Continue reading...

Orcas have been heard mimicking human speech. A study found that when prompted the marine mammal could replicate the sounds. In some instances the animal can be heard sounding the words "hello" "Amy" and even blowing a raspberry. The research aims to understand how different pods of killer whale have distinct dialects

Government puts forward earliest surviving radio astronomy observatory for 2019 honourThe giant telescopes of Jodrell Bank, and the scruffy buildings surrounding them in which discoveries were made that helped change the understanding of the universe, have been nominated by the British government as a Unesco world heritage site.The observatory, part of the University of Manchester, was founded in 1945 when Sir Bernard Lovell moved his laboratory from the murk and radio interference of the city to the clearer skies of Cheshire. It is known worldwide for its pioneering work, and is now the earliest surviving radio astronomy observatory, including structures on the still-working site from every phase of the development of the science. Continue reading...

The super blue blood moon will grace our skies on Wednesday. This rare celestial event, when a blue moon and lunar eclipse combine with the moon being at its closest point to Earth, has not been seen for more than 150 years

A researcher’s diving holiday lead to a startling discovery of never-before-seen behaviour: crabs using hydrozoans as fishing hooksEvery night as the sun goes down, on the coral reefs of the Red Sea small, delicate and slightly fuzzy-looking crabs work their way through the maze of coral. They take up stations atop the corals’ outermost structures, exposing themselves to the current in the plankton-rich waters. These are decorator crabs, of the genus Achaeus, known for their peculiar habit of covering themselves with an array of invertebrates, including delicate hydrozoans: multi-headed creatures with tiny tentacled polyps that feed on plankton.In a recent paper published in the journal Marine Biodiversity, Dr Joan J Soto Àngel, from the University of Valencia, suggests that the crabs are not only benefitting from the camouflage and defence the hydroids provide, but are also “fishing”, using their covering of hydrozoan polyps as the hooks. Continue reading...

Audit of NHS data to establish how many women have experienced problems following implant surgeryA full retrospective audit of women who have undergone vaginal mesh surgery has been launched by the government to establish how many have experienced complications following the procedure.In the past decade, more than 100,000 women have had vaginal mesh surgery to treat urinary incontinence, which is common after childbirth, according to NHS figures. But there is disagreement about the scale of problems linked to the devices, with campaigners saying women have been exposed to unacceptable risks. Continue reading...

We’d like to see your images as parts of the world experience rare celestial event where super moon, blue moon and blood moon coincide

US scientists taking measurements above the Amazon rainforest have recorded the effects of smoke and aerosols on the weatherMankind has made the world warmer, but we’ve also made it stormier. In a study conducted over the Amazon rainforest, scientists have shown that tiny particles – smaller than one-thousandth of the width of a human hair – cause storms to intensify, and potentially have knock-on effects for weather around the world.Jiwen Fan, from the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory studied storm formation near the Brazilian city of Manaus. Its 2 million people make Manaus the largest city in the Amazon, and the busy streets and smokey chimneys produce a near permanent pollution plume. Continue reading...

Researchers probe how we make an initial judgment on whether to trust or cooperate with othersFrom getting into a taxi to asking a fellow train passenger to keep an eye on your luggage while buying a coffee, we’ve all put our trust in those we do not know.Now researchers have revealed that strangers are more likely to be trusted if they look like someone who has earned your trust before – and more likely to be distrusted if they resemble someone who has betrayed your faith in them. Continue reading...

Nicotine in e-cigarettes may convert into DNA-damaging chemicals, mouse trial indicates, but critics say results are irrelevant to humansVaping may raise the risk of certain cancers and heart disease, according to a team of scientists who studied the effects of e-cigarette smoke on healthy mice and human cells.Researchers found evidence that nicotine inhaled from e-cigarettes could be converted into chemicals that damage DNA in the heart, lungs and bladder, and dampen down the body’s genetic repair mechanisms. Continue reading...

The answer to today’s headwear conundrumEarlier today in this puzzle blog I set you the following puzzle:A box contains two red hats and three green hats. Azalea, Barnaby and Caleb close their eyes, take a hat from the box and put it on. When they open their eyes they can see each other’s hats but not their own. They do not know which hats are left in the box.

Prosopagnosia, which makes those with the condition unable to recognise others, often goes undetected – despite being more common than autismEver found yourself confronted by someone who seems to knows you, but you have no idea who they are? You could be suffering from prosopagnosia, a condition that new research shows affects more people in the UK than autism, yet largely goes undetected.Also known as face blindness, the condition makes those who have it – including Brad Pitt and the late neuroscientist Oliver Sacks – unable to recognise other people, and sometimes even themselves, by their face alone. It is believed to affect as many as one in 50 Britons. Continue reading...

There is often more pressure for scientists to work against each other than together – but why?In an ideal world, academic scientists would work together towards a common goal: discovery. Researchers would unite for a common cause, motivated by boundless curiosity, working selflessly towards the Greater Good.While the pursuit of knowledge may be a noble thing, it’s not actually that different from any other occupation, in that it requires a salary. Many scientists must apply for government grants to secure the funding that pays them, as well as to cover the costs of research projects. Continue reading...

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific conceptsThis question has been bothering me for some time. If a whale (specifically, the Balaenoptera musculus or blue whale, at 180 tonnes) was dropped from space (the outer limit of the Earth’s atmosphere), what impact would it have on a city, compared to the Hoba meteorite in Namibia, which weighs 60 tonnes? Would, say, London survive the whale?Isabel Swan Continue reading...

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific conceptsDoes anyone know if there is an evolutionary reason for fingerprints?David Taylor, Ennis, Co Clare, Ireland Continue reading...

Comedian Iszi Lawrence on helping academics use humour to make their research more accessible“So, what do you do?” It’s the dreaded question we all get asked at parties. As a member of the self employed the question might as well be “can you justify your existence”?I know what NOT to say. I don’t say I’m a podcaster, because then follows a tedious explanation of what a podcast actually is. I never reveal I’m a comedian: people assume I’m washed up as they’ve not heard of me, or – worse – they ask for a free demo ... never advisable at a wake. So I do everything I can to appear as boring as possible. To keep the follow-up questions to a minimum, I usually say I am an accountant (well, I do my own tax return). I rarely include the fun aspects of my work, like teaching academics how to be funny, because I know where the conversation goes. Doctors and GPs will feel my pain, being bombarded with tales of ailments and body parts at parties before they even have a chance to take off their coats. Continue reading...

The launch of the Humanity Star is proof that the human urge to dominate wild places is as untamed as everNews that Rocket Lab, a New Zealand space company, has somewhat surreptitiously sent a 3ft-wide geodesic sphere into space – looking somewhat like an oversized Christmas tree bauble, has not met with unalloyed joy. Dubbed the Humanity Star, it is due to shine there for nine months (until it burns up in the atmosphere) – a “reminder to all on Earth about our fragile place in the universe”, as the company’s founder, Peter Beck, says. “It’s definitely a reminder,” agrees the astrobiologist Carl Scharf, “… because it’s infesting the very thing that we urgently need to cherish.”Related: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky Continue reading...

Thinking caps on!Hi guzzlers,A box contains two red hats and three green hats... Continue reading...