Warm water is brewing in the Pacific, resurrecting claims that a much-anticipated El Niño may be on its way. El Niño - a heating of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific - affects wind patterns and can trigger both floods and drought in different parts of the globe. Now, for the first time, scientists have mapped how flood risks change across the world when an extreme El Niño hits the oceans. The biggest increases in flood risk were found in southwest United States, parts of southern South America and the Horn of Africa, according to Amsterdam's Global Change Institute. The red colour in the map below shows regions where flooding decreases in El Niño or La Niña years. A darker the red, the lower the risk compared to normal. Pictured in the inset is the village of Puerto Maldonado, Peru, is seen flooded in January 2003 as a result of El Niño rains.
Virtual autopsy composed of more than 2,000 computer scans supports evidence that his parents were brother and sister.
Scientists are closer to dating the Shigir Idol, found in 1890 in Kirovgrad, Sverdlovsk region, in the Ural Mountains.
How to boost YOUR mobile phone's battery life: Interactive guide gives tailor-made tips for individual handsets
'UFO' spotted close to the ISS as astronauts carried out repairs was just glare from the sun, claims expert
A 'UFO' appeared briefly (left) in a Nasa video of a spacewalk on the ISS (top right). The sighting led to speculation that it might be an alien spacecraft. But experts have revealed it is just lens flare in the image such as lens flare. 'My guess is that it's an [image] artefact of some sort,' says Professor Andrew Balogh from the Imperial College London Department of Physics. Space science writer Amy Teitel adds: 'I'd say it looks like a reflection inside the camera, a trick of light'. That hasn't stopped conspiracy theories emerging as to its origin. UFO expert Nigel Watson jokes: 'If it was a UFO it would have been nice if its alien occupants had stepped out and helped with the repairs [of the ISS]'. The event took place on 7 October as two astronauts performed a spacewalk. American Reid Wiseman and German Alexander Gerst moved a refrigerator-sized pump (bottom right) that had been left outside the station since December 2013.
Food for thought: Infographic reveals what the world consumes - with China being the biggest meat eaters and Germany drinking the most alcohol
The interactive graph shows the world's average diet (main image), that Germans drink the most alcohol, while Americans consume the most sugar, Indians are most likely to be vegetarian (pictured top right) and Somalis eat the fewest daily calories (bottom right). It was created by data experts at National Geographic, as part of its Future of Food series, using data from FAOSTAT. The changing chart shows how diets vary around the world and have changed over the last 50 years, as well as showing quantities of food consumed per person in each place in calories and grams.
Sphinx's missing head found deep within Alexander the Great-era tomb: Female face adds weight to archaeologists' hopes it could hold the ancient ruler's mother
Archaeologists have found the missing head (pictured left) of a sphinx statue (pictured top right) 'guarding' a mysterious tomb in Amphipolis, in northern Greece(inset) and discovered it had ginger hair. The Greek Culture Ministry said: 'It is a sculpture of exceptional art'. The only damage is a missing piece of the nose and fragments of the mythical creatures' wings have also been found. The head was discovered in the third chamber of the burial mound, which experts think was built for either the wife or mother of Alexander the Great. Last week, pictures were released of a giant mosaic that covers the whole floor of a room, which is thought to be the ante chamber to the main burial room. It shows Persephone - daughter of Zeus and the harvest goddess Demeter - who is wearing a white robe and riding in a chariot. The scene, along with statutes of women and a lion, hints that the tomb was built for a woman, according to historians.
Reinventing the backpack: Cord system swings rucksack round to your chest so you can reach for items WITHOUT taking it off
The design was created by a London-based finance director with an engineering degree and features an ‘orbital trapeze’ technology called expetoSYSTEM. A user tugs downwards on a strap (pictured left) attached to the conventional shoulder strap of the bag, which releases the main part of the backpack (middle image) so that the wearer can swing it round to their front (right). Once the user has got what they want from their bag, they pull the strap again to return it to position. The bag is designed to be easily worn on the chest in crowded areas and those where users want to keep their valuables safe. It can be pre-ordered on Kickstarter for £85 ($137).
Marty McFly-style hoverboard finally becomes a reality: £6,000 gadget uses electromagnetic fields to glide along mid-air
Ever since Marty McFly made his getaway on a hoverboard in Back to the Future II, gadget fans have been dreaming of floating on their own device. Now, Californian architect Greg Henderson has made that dream come true by developing a hoverboard that floats in mid-air just like the 1980s classic film. Dubbed the Hendo Hoverboard, it uses four 'hover engines' which emit magnetic fields that push against each other as long as metal conductor is used in the surface underneath. In a video released by the company, a man moves smoothly along a custom-built skate ramp on his board, which is held an inch of the ground. Mr Henderson now plans to raise £155,000 ($250,000) on Kickstarter to further develop the technology.
Watch the moment a baby sloth is born by C-SECTION: Tiny baby is delivered after his injured mother fell from a tree
The pregnant brown-throated sloth (main image) was brought to the Sloth Institute Costa Rica, after a local hotel worker saw her fall out of a tree. Experts quickly saw the was having 'slow' seizures and was finding it hard to move her limbs as the result of a knock on the head. They discovered she was pregnant and did an ultrasound (pictured bottom right) The decision was made to perform an emergency c-section and the baby (pictured top right) was safely delivered. He was photographed snuggling into his mother soon after the birth.
World first as man whose spinal cord was severed WALKS: Fireman paralysed by knife attack recovers after UK scientists use nose cells to re-grow nerve cells in his spine
Darek Fidyka, 40, is believed to be the first person in the world to recover from such chronic injuries after receiving pioneering treatment from University College London. The fireman from Bulgaria severed his spine after being stabbed four years ago, leaving him paralysed from the waist down. Scientists used cells from his nose to repair the broken link on his back in a medical achievement hailed as more impressive than putting a man on the moon. It comes after the death of actor Christopher Reeve (inset) in 2004, who ploughed money into finding a cure for the condition after becoming paralysed himself in a devastating horse accident.
Rare Apple 1 set to fetch £309,000 at auction: Working 1976 model among items selling at Bonhams' History of Science sale
The inaugural History of Science sale will take place at Bonhams, New York on Wednesday. It features books, scientific and technological gadgets, photos, and prints ranging from the 16th to 20th centuries including a letter from Charles Darwin detailing the reproduction of barnacles. It also features a Helmholtz Sound Synthesizer (pictured bottom right), photographs by astronomer and telescope designer George Willis Ritchey (left) and an Ada Lovelace sketch. The most expensive item is an Apple 1 computer (pictured top right) in 'excellent condition' set to fetch between $300,000 and 500,000 (£185,800 and $309,500).
World's largest ship so big it can lift an OIL RIG takes to the seas: Empire State-length boat will begin moving structures next year
The biggest vessel in the world has been built by Daewoo in South Korea. Swiss company Allseas commissioned the building of the huge £1.9bn ($3.1bn) ship. Called Pieter Schelte (main), it is almost as big as the Empire State Building. It will be used to pick up and move oil rigs from one place to another (inset). Both the legs and main structure of a rig can be moved simultaneously. It can reach speeds of 14 knots and hold a crew of 571 people. Allseas says it will enter offshore operations next year - but an even bigger ship will be built by 2020.
Hackers release 100,000 photos and videos intercepted from Snapchat, in huge trove that includes child pornography
Watch the internet go to SLEEP: Map reveals how the world's web activity disappears as the sun goes down (but the UK and US stays awake)
The map was created by the University of Southern California after researchers pinged 3.7 million IP address blocks. The pink and red blocks show higher internet usage, while blue blocks suggest lower than average web activity. They found the UK, US, India, and East Asia are active through the night. However, large parts of Africa, Russia and Australia only log on during the day. The finding will help scientists and policymakers develop better systems to measure and track internet outages, such as those that struck the New York area after Hurricane Sandy.
Now YOU can be a space explorer: Stunning HD space simulator lets you navigate every known planet, star and galaxy in the cosmos
A simulator that lets you explore the known universe has been released. It has taken Vladimir Romanyuk from Saint Petersburg in Russia eight years to put Space Engine (shown) together. The software is free although he is currently seeking donations on his site. In the simulator players can explore all known planets, stars and galaxies. This comes to a total of more than 130,000 objects to explore. And objects in the solar system are also mapped in high detail.
The 'bat signal' of the future: Free-floating laser images could be fired into the sky to alert people to disasters
The bat signal (bottom right) that alerted the caped crusader to trouble brewing in Gotham City could soon become a reality. A free-floating image created by firing lasers into thin air was today unveiled in Japan, offering the possibility if one day of projecting messages into a cloudless sky. Like the bat signal, its inventors hope that it might someday be used to warn people of danger, such as an approaching tsunami. The company behind the technology, Kawasaki City- based Burton, showed off rotating spirals, a stickman (top right) fluttering butterflies and the outline of an apple (left) hovering a few metres over a van.
Will we be using nuclear fusion power by 2025? Lockheed Martin announces major breakthrough 'that could solve world's energy crisis'
Nuclear fusion has been described as the 'holy grail' of energy, a source of power that could solve the world's impending fuel crisis. And we may be a step closer to achieving it after Lockheed Martin announced a 'breakthrough' in developing a power source based on the technology. In this top left image, neutrons released from plasma (seen here in purple) will transfer heat through reactor walls to drive a turbine. The Maryland-based company said the first reactors, small enough to fit on the back of a truck, could be ready for use in a decade. The bottom left image shows a more traditional fusion reactor design. The right image shows the magnetic coils inside the compact fusion experiment.
The woman with RAINBOW VISION: Artist sees 100 times more colours than the average person because of genetic condition
Concetta Antico, (pictured left) an artist in San Diego, California, has more receptors in in her eyes to absorb colour, enabling her to see ? and paint ? the world around her in a different way to most people. Two of her colourful creations are pictured right. The average person can see approximately one million colours, whereas tetrachromats have an extra cone class for colour vision that dramatically increases their range up to a potential 99 million. Antico's cones are structures in the eye that are designed to absorb particular wavelengths of light and transmit them to the brain.
Minecraft's MEGACITY: Man spends two years crafting pixelated metropolis from 4.5 million blocks
An art student at the University of Delaware created a Minecraft metropolis (different parts are pictured), featuring skyscrapers, roads and trees, using 4.5 million bricks. In almost the same time that it has taken for Mr Parcells to build Titan City, almost 17 million people have bought a copy of Minecraft. The gaming title is the top online game on Xbox Live, with over two billion hours played on Xbox 360 in the last two years.
- What is the world's oldest wooden statue trying to tell us? Etchings on haunting seven-faced Shigir Idol 'could hold a message to modern man'
- Sphinx's missing head found deep within Alexander the Great-era tomb: Female face adds weight to archaeologists' hopes it could hold the ancient ruler's mother
- Forget a good crunch - this apple has a built-in FIZZ: Experts create sparkling fruit that bubbles when it's bitten into
- Goats are SHRINKING because of climate change, researchers warn
- Is YOUR country at risk from El Niño? Maps plot the regions most likely to be affected by floods and extreme weather
- Now that's armchair archaeology! Treasure hunter locates a Bronze Age settlement using GOOGLE EARTH – to digs up 5,000-year-old flint tools
- Can you be scientific AND religious? Philosopher says 'opposing' views may not be as conflicting as first thought
- Nokia develops tech that could DOUBLE your battery life: Tests reveal power savings of up to 49% and faster browsing speeds
- How to boost YOUR mobile phone’s battery life: Interactive guide gives tailor-made tips for individual handsets
- Mars mission could expose astronauts to deadly levels of radiation while travelling to the red planet, study claims
- 'UFO' spotted close to the ISS as astronauts carried out repairs was just glare from the sun, claims expert
- Medieval SHOPPING LIST found in Russia: 14th century document among dozens of birch bark scrolls discovered in ancient city
- We'll soon all live to 120 years old - but this is probably the absolute limit, claims expert
- Your chance to drive on the moon: 22 year old US student reveals plan to put virtual reality rover on the lunar surface and let anyone control it
- Evolution of the British Navy: Laser imaging reveals how far its warships have come since HMS Victory's glory days
- What IS Magic Leap? Secretive firm raises $542m from Google and others for its 'cinematic reality' system - but still won't reveal what the technology is
- Don't tell the teacher! The app that uses your phone's camera to solve any equation it sees
- The REAL face of King Tut: Pharaoh had girlish hips, a club foot and buck teeth according to 'virtual autopsy' that also revealed his parents were brother and sister
- What is the world's oldest wooden statue trying to tell us? Etchings on haunting seven-faced Shigir Idol 'could hold a message to modern man'
- Roman gladiators ate a vegetarian diet - and washed it down with a 'sports drink' of plant ashes and vinegar
- How to boost YOUR mobile phone’s battery life: Interactive guide gives tailor-made tips for individual handsets
- Forget a good crunch - this apple has a built-in FIZZ: Experts create sparkling fruit that bubbles when it's bitten into
- Are you face-ist? Study finds we make snap judgements about people based on the shape of their facial features
- What IS Magic Leap? Secretive firm raises $542m from Google and others for its 'cinematic reality' system - but still won't reveal what the technology is
- UFO spotted in Nasa video of astronauts as they carry out their repairs to the International Space Station
- Fancy butch men? Then you probably live in the city: Urban life makes us more attracted to masculine males and feminine women
- We'll soon all live to 120 years old - but this is probably the absolute limit, claims expert
- Marty McFly-style hoverboard finally becomes a reality: £6,000 gadget uses electromagnetic fields to glide along mid-air
- Sphinx's missing head found deep within Alexander the Great-era tomb: Female face adds weight to archaeologists' hopes it could hold the ancient ruler's mother
- Food for thought: Infographic reveals what the world consumes - with China being the biggest meat eaters and Germany drinking the most alcohol
- Forget the Apple Watch: $60 smartwatch for four year olds set to be the must-have Christmas gadget
- Does a wide head mean you're aggressive? People with fat faces are more dominant and have higher amounts of testosterone
- World first as man whose spinal cord was severed WALKS: Fireman paralysed by knife attack recovers after UK scientists use nose cells to re-grow nerve cells in his spine
- Are religious people MORE likely to watch porn? Bible Belt enjoys adult content more than liberal states, claims study
- MOST READ IN DETAIL
VIDEO GAMES
THIS WEEK'S TOP TEN VIDEO GAMES
Forget barbeques, this outdoor stove cooks an entire meal in just 10 minutes using nothing but SUNLIGHT
The gadget, known as the GoSun Stove, absorbs heat from the sun to reach temperatures of 290°C (554°F). Its Ohio-based creators claim it can safely cook hot dogs, eight egg omelettes, frozen foods, fish fillets, muffins, stirfrys and even raw meat. The device is 2ft (0.6 metres) long and 2.25 inches (5.7cm) in diameter and can handle more than three pounds (1.4kg) of food or fluid. The core to the technology of the GoSun Stove is the solar evacuated tube that acts as the stove's cooking chamber. When clouds interrupt, the food keeps on cooking with the heat stored inside the vacuum tube. A 'GoSun Sport' costs £175 ($280), while a 'GoSun Mini' costs £80 ($128).
Want to know exactly what type of spider is invading your home? There's an app for that
'CT scan' of the universe: 3D animation reveals evolution of galaxies over 10.8 billion years
Researchers led by the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy in Germany have observed a 'pencil beam' of the universe's cosmic web (main). The resultant 3D map shows the distribution of matter in one region of space. This 'cosmic web' shows where matter is most densely concentrated. It shows regions before galaxies formed, and so predicts their formation. This is the first time the cosmic web has been mapped at such a vast distance - in this case 10.8 billion light-years from Earth. The researchers made the map using the Keck I telescope in Hawaii (inset). It could be used to help understand how the universe took shape.
There is a new selfie in town - and it's called the DONUT: Spinning headshots could soon be filling your Facebook news feeds
Forget your quest to take the perfect selfie, a new trend is set to sweep the internet that requires more than just a well-angled pout. Called the 'donut selfie', it involves using panoramic video shots of your head to create a seamless selfie that travels across different locations. The technique was created by ex-Microsoft employee from San Francisco, Karen Cheng, while she was experimenting with sweeping camera motions. The social media star has since released a video that shows the camera spinning around her head, with the scenery changing each time from her workplace, to a train station and even her bed.
Colouring in history: Digital artists 'paint' black and white photographs to bring people and places of the past back to life
There is something about black and white photography that can instantly transport you back in time. Their subjects often appear shrouded in mystery, with grey shading making them appear part of a shadowy world very different to the one we live in today. Now artists have begun drawing the dark veil back from these figures, to bring them out of the murky past and into vivid reality. Pictured is 'The March on Washington' that took place on 28 August 1963 in Washington D.C. as part of civil rights movement. Here Martin Luther King gave his famous 'I have a Dream' speech. These latest images have been put together by artists working with Italy-based printing firm, Pixartprinting, using basic Photoshop software alongside extensive research on the colour of historic objects.
The discovery of a terrifying sea monster? No, this writhing mass of tentacles caught off the Singapore coast is just a bizarre relative of the starfish
The Basket star (Gorgonocephalus caputmedusae) was caught off the coast of Singapore and continues to wave its arms out of water in the video shot by businessman and fisherman Jr Saim. The creature can live around 6,564 ft (2 km) below the waves, but typically favours life between 50 ft (15 metres) and 500 feet (152 metres) below sea level. It has five arms radiating from a central disk, like other members of the echinoderm phylum, which includes starfish, sea urchins and brittle stars. But they differ from starfish, for example, because each arm branches out into countless flexible others, which can be used by the creature to create a tangled mesh designed to ensnare plankton and even small crustaceans.
GADGET REVIEWS
iPhone woes mount as Apple pulls iOS 8 software update after users report major bugs that cause iPhone 6 to lose signal and data service
Are spiders getting bigger? Warm summer has caused arachnids to grow larger, say experts
SMARTPHONES? IT'S YOUR CALL
The ultimate non-iPhone smartphone guide...
Talk time: 9.5hr (7hr playback, 55hr music)
Spec: 3.7in (800x480 pixels) AMOLED screen, 16GB, 1.4GHz Windows Mango, 8MP camera, 720p HD video
Verdict: This combination works wonderfully. It's a pleasure to use and Nokia's Drive GPS app is impressive. We've rated these iPhone alternatives from Ace down to Five - and the Nokia is at the head of the pack.
Talk time: 8.5hr
Spec: Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 4.65in (720x1,280) AMOLED screen, 5MP camera, 1080p video, 16GB memory
Verdict: It's got a beautiful screen, intuitive operating system and cool features like face-recognition security, but battery life doesn't quite match the hype.
Talk time: 6hr 50min
Spec: Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, 1.5GHz, 4.7in (480x800) screen, 16GB, 8MP camera, 720p HD video
Verdict: The Titan is slim, light and has the largest screen on any Windows device. Shame they didn't give it better screen resolution.
Talk time: 4hr
Spec: Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 1 GHz, 4.3in (800x480) screen, 8MP camera, 1080p HD video, 8GB memory
Verdict: The sharp lines and thin bezel give a professional look while the monochrome interface screams class. One for the fashionistas.
Talk time: 5hr 20min
Spec: BlackBerry 7 OS, 1 GHz, 2.45in (480x360) screen, 5MP camera, VGA video, 8GB memory
Verdict: Beautifully made and with a battery life most handsets would kill for, but the OS is limiting and even with its touch screen it can't compete.
Talk time: 7hr 35min
Spec: Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, 1.4GHz, 4.2in (854x480) screen, 1GB internal, 8GB MicroSD memory (included), 8.1MP camera, 720p HD video
Verdict: Motorola take note, this is how you do slim and sexy. The camera is let down by a poor menu and awful shutter button, but Sony's social media widget 'Timescale' is a time-saving stroke of genius.
Talk time: 10hr
Spec: Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, 4.3in Super AMOLED (540x960) screen, 8MP camera, Full HD video, 16GB
Verdict: Light and impossibly thin, but even with its rigid Kevlar frame it feels limp and lopsided in the hand. Shame, as the screen is exceptional and the interface is bursting with neat tricks including the ability to resize the icons you use most.
Talk time: 4hr 30min
Spec: Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 800MHz processor, 3.5in (800x480) screen, 5MP camera, 512 MB internal memory, 2GB microSD card (included)
Verdict: Never going to induce envy but if you want smartphone functionality without budget busting it's hard to fault. Navigation is intuitive; battery life excellent.
Talk time: 4hr
Spec: Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, 3.5in (800x480) screen, 5MP camera, 800MHz processor, 512MB memory, 2GB microUSB card, GPS
Verdict: The Vivacity is essentially the San Francisco II with iPhone looks, and while it lacks the fluidity of its more expensive cousins, you can get app-happy on a budget.
Talk time: 4hr 30min
Spec: Android 2.2 Froyo, 2.8in (240x320) screen, 2MP camera, 130MB memory, 2GB microSD card
Verdict: It might be cheap, small and pocketable but as a smartphone it's cramped, slow and the minuscule memory limits the number of apps.
You can stand under my AIR-brella: Hi-tech umbrella creates an invisible ‘force field’ above you to blow rain away
A Chinese inventor is seeking funding for his Air Umbrella gadget. It is a replacement for regular umbrellas, using air instead of fabric. The sceptre-like device blows out air at the top to make a 'force field'. This protects the person or people underneath from rain. Air is drawn in by the top of the device and fired out again at the sides. Prices start at £55 ($88) but it won't be available until December 2015.
Turn your chinwag into CHARGE: Jaw strap harvests energy from eating and talking - and could one day power your mobile
How did this mysterious 'pyramid' form on comet 67P? Rosetta images reveal striking 80ft-structure on surface
The strange structure (right) was discovered by the European Space Agency's Rosetta probe (artist's impression bottom left) as it orbited comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 297 million miles (478 million km) from Earth. At around 82ft-tall (25 metres), the structure is one of the larger boulders seen on the comet and could help scientists better understand how the comet formed. The 'pyramid' stood out among a group of boulders on the lower side of 67P/C-G's larger lobe ? an area that has reminded scientists of the famous pyramids at Giza near Cairo in Egypt. Esa has now named the structure Cheops, after the largest of those pyramids, the Great Pyramid (top left), which was built as a tomb for the pharaoh Cheops around 2550 BC.
The hottest six months in history? April to September 2014 were the warmest since records began, Nasa claims
Washington DC-based Nasa says April to September (data shown) was the hottest middle period of a year on record. Their findings were backed up by the National Climatic Data Center. April, May, June and August were hotter than they have ever been. July, meanwhile, was the fourth warmest it has been since 1880. It is the hottest middle six months of a year since record began. The temperatures were based on global averages across land and sea. And it's likely that 2014 will rank as the hottest year on record.
All around the world... and beyond
British photographers Fiona Rogers and Anup Shah captured apes in Indonesia and Borneo - and highlighted how human our evolutionary cousins are.