Analysis of ten years of data from the space telescope has revealed the unusual trajectories, and also suggests Pluto might in fact be a binary dwarf planetPluto’s moons have been tracked closely for the first time, showing that they tumble unpredictably rather than keeping one face fixed on their host planet.Astronomers also observed that Pluto, whose status was downgraded to a dwarf planet in 2006, might be better regarded as a binary dwarf as it is locked in orbit with its largest moon, called Charon. Continue reading...

Stephen Hawking’s restated position on assisted dying poses important questions about how the rest of us mere mortals gain a sense of self-worthWhat’s a life worth, and to whom? Professor Stephen Hawking has said once more that he would consider ending his life if he felt he could no longer make a contribution to the world; and although it’s obvious that he means by the world his loved ones as well as the theoretical physics community, it does seem a high bar to set. Not many of us are much use to the world as a whole; almost everyone has a job in which they could be replaced without too much strain and that may nowadays disappear without warning.Related: Stephen Hawking: 'I would consider assisted suicide' Continue reading...

‘If you go to a store and buy a can, it is likely to have BPA,’ the study’s director says. Science linking BPA to harmful effects has been published for yearsThe world’s largest food companies and brands continue to coat their metal food cans with bisphenol A-based epoxy (BPA) – a chemical known to have links to breast cancer, reproductive problems, heart disease and other illnesses – a study has found.The study, published on Wednesday, is the first of its kind to conduct in depth research into food companies and their products for consumers. Continue reading...

Many tiny species reproduce without sex, but in the case of these larger, endangered creatures, it is inbreeding born from necessityThe news this week that sawfish have been found to have had virgin births in the wild is not a niche occurrence. For many of the planet’s animal species, reproduction is not always what it seems. Some, such as bdelloid rotifers have successfully reproduced for millions of years without sex. In others, such as stingless wasps, little fire ants and some fish, the need for sex to reproduce and even their gender, can be changed by fungal infection or bacteria.Related: Sex and the sawfish: the world of wildlife virgin births Continue reading...

Chimpanzees prefer their vegetables lightly roasted. Clever experiments reveal that if our closest living relatives could only control fire they would probably be cookingAs far as we can tell, chimps don’t cook. Yet a series of clever experiments show that Pan troglodytes have a taste for cooked food and the cognitive capabilities to cook. The implication is that the common ancestor of chimps and humans that lived around 2 million years ago was poised to cook. The lineage that led to humans figured out how to control fire. The chimp lineage did not.The Guardian’s science correspondent Hannah Devlin has already written an excellent article about the research, but I thought I’d share with you some of the video clips that accompany the study, published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society. Continue reading...

The gastrophysicists are coming to analyse your ‘flaves’, and mealtimes will never be the same again

Timelapse video of archeologists at the Rangueil forensic institute in Toulouse analysing the preserved body of 17th century widow Louise de Quengo. Her coffin was unearthed during archaeological excavations at the Convent of the Jacobins in Rennes. Louise de Quengo, of Breton nobility, died in 1656 when she was in her 60s. Her body will be reburied in Rennes in a few months

Physicist tells BBC programme he would consider ending his life if he had nothing more to contribute and was a burden to those around himStephen Hawking has said he would consider ending his own life if he became a burden to others or if he had “nothing more to contribute”.But the physicist and cosmologist told a forthcoming BBC programme he knows he has much more scientific work to do, despite his advanced motor neurone disease. Continue reading...

Every day, millions of people ask Google some of life’s most difficult questions. In this series, our writers answer some of the most common queriesMaybe we should ask the duck-billed platypus.Back in the 1950s, scientists working on humans identified a state marked by increased brain activation, accelerated breathing and heart rate, and muscular paralysis. But perhaps the most remarkable feature was a flickering of the eyes beneath closed eyelids – because all these physiological changes took place while the subjects were fast asleep. Continue reading...

Heart attack drugs significantly increased chances of survival from common cancers such as bone, breast, bowel and ovarian, researchers found

Niels Bohr, with his model of the atom, led physics into the quantum era. In the last of this season’s Perimeter Institute public lectures, his grandson Vilhelm will talk about personality and his influences

Scientists hope restart of particle accelerator at 13 tera-electronvolts will reveal new particles and possibly shed light on dark matter Continue reading...

Despite recent theories suggesting a common feathered ancestor or proto-feathers on all dinosaurs, new survey confirms that scales were the normResearchers have called time on a growing suspicion that many dinosaurs were not the dry, scaly animals of popular conception, but fluffy, feathered beasts instead.Remains unearthed in recent years have revealed feathers or proto-feathers on a range of dinosaurs, leading some paleontologists to wonder if all of the animals evolved from a feathered ancestor and sported some kind of plumage themselves.

Man, 62, taken to hospital after attack while photographing animal near Old Faithful geyser, where a teenage girl was gored a few weeks earlier Continue reading...

Findings suggest chimpanzees have the intellectual abilities required for cooking, which could have an impact on our view of human evolutionThey may lack the secret of man’s red fire, but chimpanzees possess most of the intellectual abilities required for cooking, according to scientists.A study found that chimpanzees prefer the taste of cooked food, can defer gratification while waiting for it and even choose to hoard raw vegetables if they know they will have the chance to cook them later on. The findings suggest that our earliest ancestors may have developed a taste for roast vegetables and grilled meat earlier than previously thought, potentially shifting the timeline for one of the critical transitions in human history. Continue reading...

Mythical creatures will return when west London folly inspired by China’s Porcelain Tower undergoes biggest restoration in its 257-year history Continue reading...

Recent controversies surrounding the public portrayal of science suggest that we are too reliant on its fragile findings

A series of recent studies suggest that eye movements may both reflect and influence the workings of the brain Continue reading...

A large group of tiny birds huddle together for warmth in a garage near Dunedin New Zealand, as a big snowstorm approaches Continue reading...

News of the latest drug breakthrough is welcome – but let’s not delude ourselves about the costs and modest benefits of treatment Continue reading...

Science Magazine caused outrage with an advice column where a female researcher was told to put up with being ogled by her boss. This may be the worst advice it’s possible to give a woman in science. But in case it isn’t, here’s some more Continue reading...

Sir David King calls for £15bn a year R&D spending on clean energy to make it cheaper than coal power globally, in emulation of space race research efforts Continue reading...

Europe-wide trial launched in attempt to develop test similar to cervical smear, but also checking for ovarian, womb and some forms of breast cancerDoctors have raised the possibility of a single screening test which could detect the risk of four different cancers in women, raising hopes of catching them early and saving lives.A four-year Europe-wide trial was announced on Monday with the aim of developing a test similar to the current simple cervical smear, which will identify a woman’s risk of developing cervical, ovarian, womb or certain sorts of aggressive breast cancer. Continue reading...

Experts say they have identified 176m-year-old sauropod from fossil backbone discovered on a beach at WhitbyExperts say they have identified Britain’s oldest sauropod dinosaur from a fossil bone discovered on the North Yorkshire coast.The dinosaur backbone – which dates back about 176m years to the Middle Jurassic period – was found on a beach at Whitby after it fell out of a cliff face.Related: British dinosaurs should be everyone’s cup of tea Continue reading...

A routine DNA study has revealed surprising results which suggest that female sawfish in Florida are reproducing without mating with malesA virgin birth is normally taken as a sign of divine intervention, but the phenomenon may be more common than we thought - at least in certain fish species.Scientists have discovered that female sawfish appear to be routinely reproducing without any male input through an alternative form of reproduction known as parthenogenesis. Continue reading...

Ceremony to be held on Clifton beach, Cape Town, near recently discovered wreck site of Portuguese ship that sank, leading to the loss of 212 slaves’ lives Continue reading...

Over the next few months we’ll be breaking down scientific concepts into six-second vines at #guardianscienceinsix. But can you do better?Science is full of big, complex ideas, and one of the most important skills a scientist can develop is a knack for communicating those ideas to others. It’s a difficult job, and one which is even harder if you want to condense a lot of information into a tight word count or timeframe.However, that’s exactly what we’re going to try to do over the next couple of months. Every two weeks we’ll be trying to break down a range of scientific concepts into six-second vines, which we’ll launch on the Guardian Vine account and here in the Notes & Theories blog. Continue reading...

Analysis: A combination therapy – helping the body’s own defences fight cancer cells – has shown impressive results for terminally ill melanoma patients Continue reading...

Whether you have stopped consuming alcohol or using illegal substances we’d like to know why you made that life changing decision Continue reading...

International trial using ipilimumab and nivolumab to treat patients with advanced melanoma stopped cancer advancing in 58% of casesTerminally ill cancer patients could be “effectively cured” of the disease using a powerful new combination of drugs described by scientists as heralding a once-in-a-generation advance in treatment.A British-led trial brought “spectacular” results with more than half of patients with advanced melanoma seeing tumours shrink or brought under control using the drugs.Related: Immunotherapy: the big new hope for cancer treatment Continue reading...

Poor weather conditions force solar-powered plane to make detour to Nagoya during attempted flight from China to HawaiiA solar-powered plane attempting to make an unprecedented flight across the Pacific has been forced to make an unscheduled stop in Japan due to poor weather conditions.Solar Impulse 2 en route from China to Hawaii has made a detour to Nagoya. It took off early on Sunday for a six-day, six-night, flight over the Pacific Ocean. Continue reading...

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Treating whole brain with radiation found to harm cognitive skills without improving survival, study finds – meaning many could be spared such care Continue reading...

Alberta man who discovered a rare fish fossil is happy to display it in a museum, even if he takes issue with scientists’ stance: ‘We agree to disagree’If a Canadian museum decides to exhibit a recent fossil discovery, the man who found it, Edgar Nernberg, hopes it will be displayed with two plaques. One would contain local paleontologists’ explanation, that the fossil is around 60 million years old. The other would explain Nernberg’s view that his find is from the past 6,000 years, after the world began.Nernberg is a long-time excavator, fossil collector and creationist. He believes in the biblical history of the creation of the world, not the scientifically accepted one. The Calgary Sun newspaper, to which he has sent between 30 and 40 letters on the subject, has said he is the “greatest promoter of creationism in Alberta”. Continue reading...

Evolution has made us survivors, but that’s not the end of the story – as anyone with a bad back will tell youYour body is far from perfect. You’re the product of millions of years of evolution, but this process doesn’t strive towards “perfection”. In fact, it doesn’t strive towards anything. It just happens: because there are differences between individuals in a species, and some have better chances of surviving and reproducing than others. There’s never a goal in mind. All that matters is those chances of survival and reproduction: a game played out in the moment, between organisms and their environment. Continue reading...

Channel 4’s anthropology show will star a cantankerous granddad, a long-suffering wife and a cattle-leaping son Continue reading...

Scientist praises college for supporting him but fears young ambitious academics of today in similar position would not get same backing

Alexandra Doyle has signed up for a one-way trip to Mars. What makes her, and 99 others, so ready to leave Earth behind? Meet the red planet’s would-be pioneers – and the man who promises he can get them thereWhen Nasa’s first rover set down on the surface of Mars in 1997, its streamed colour images caused an early internet sensation. After centuries of dreaming, here we were, at eye level to our closest potentially habitable neighbour, and the sight was as bleakly majestic as we could have imagined: a rocky, red desertscape on a scale entirely alien to Earth. One mountain, Olympus Mons, was the largest in our solar system (three times the height of Everest, with a footprint the size of Sweden); dune-seas swept its northern hemisphere while 7km-deep canyons veined the south.Watching on a clunky desktop computer in the Dutch university town of Twente, 20-year-old Bas Lansdorp’s first thought was one of wonder; his second of longing (“I want to go there!”), then the melancholy realisation that, being Dutch, he could never fly with Nasa. So he’d have to do it himself.It's become an issue for my parents. I mean, it was a big step for me to move from Blackpool to LondonWhat makes a good reality TV show? Tension, conflict. But you don't send four kooky divas to Mars!Why send people for a holiday – when there are 200,000 applicants who don't need to come back? Continue reading...

The sale of laughing gas is to be outlawed in the latest government crackdown on legal highs. Which other drugs will be affected by the ban?Whether it’s a high that’s been around since the 17th century, or a chemical cocktail created last weekend, successive governments have found it difficult to get a grip on legal highs.Ban one thing then tweak the compound slightly and the revamped drug becomes legal again. This is because the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 classifies drugs as illegal by their chemical compounds.Related: Laughing gas sales to be outlawed in government's legal highs clampdown Continue reading...

There has been considerable confusion and concern around new government plans to ban legal highs. Scientifically, the only solution is to ban the human brain Continue reading...

A recent Royal Society oral history event provided an opportunity to learn from four senior scientists who lived through the changes Continue reading...

We take a closer look at some of Lomborg's arguments on fracking, emissions and green energy Continue reading...