Science & Nature · 2

In 2018, LiDAR surveys conducted over the Petén lowlands revealed more than 60,000 previously unknown Maya structures hidden beneath the jungle canopy of which country?

Answer

Guatemala

The 2018 PACUNAM LiDAR Initiative surveyed over 2,100 square kilometres of Guatemala's Petén lowlands and revealed more than 60,000 hidden Maya structures, including pyramids, causeways, and fortifications. The survey fundamentally changed our understanding of the scale and complexity of Maya civilisation.

💡 Did you know?

The 2018 Guatemala LiDAR survey tripled previous estimates of the Maya lowland population, revealing a connected network of cities and highways that had been invisible under the jungle for centuries.

Other options people guess

  • Mexico
  • Honduras
  • Belize

Topics

  • archaeology
  • lidar
  • ancient-history
  • civilisations
  • mysteries

Know your science & nature trivia?

Play a free Science & Nature quiz and see how many you get right — no signup needed to start.

More Science & Nature facts

Science & Nature

What aerial scanning technology, which fires millions of laser pulses from aircraft, revealed a vast hidden ancient city beneath the jungle canopy near Angkor Wat in 2015?

When archaeologists processed the first Angkor LiDAR scans, they discovered a medieval city larger than modern-day Paris had been hiding for centuries under the jungle.

Science & Nature

Ancient DNA analysis has revealed that the Neolithic people who built Stonehenge were descended from farmers who had migrated to Britain from which region?

Ancient DNA shows the Neolithic farmers who built Stonehenge were almost completely replaced by incoming steppe herders within a few generations — one of prehistory's most dramatic population turnovers.

Science & Nature

What type of erosion did geologist Robert Schoch controversially argue in the 1990s that the Great Sphinx enclosure walls show — implying the monument predates accepted dates by thousands of years?

The Great Sphinx's nose was not knocked off by Napoleon's cannons — drawings from the 15th century show it was already missing, nearly 400 years before Napoleon ever visited Egypt.

Science & Nature

What planet in our solar system rotates on its side, with an axial tilt of about 98 degrees?

Uranus takes 84 Earth years to complete one orbit around the Sun, meaning each season lasts about 21 years.

Science & Nature

What gas gives the distinct 'rotten egg' smell that warns of natural gas leaks?

Hydrogen sulfide naturally occurs in hot springs and volcanic gases, giving them their characteristic sulfur smell.

Science & Nature

What simple sugar does the brain primarily use for energy?

The human brain uses about 120 grams of glucose daily, roughly the amount in two bananas.