Mystery Dust Cloud and Aurora Spotted on Mars
A spacecraft has discovered surprises in the Red Planet's upper atmosphere
Stories by Alexandra Witze
Bright Spots on Ceres Could Be Active Ice
Early data from the Dawn spacecraft could clear up a mystery about the dwarf planet
![Best Images Ever of Mercury's Scorched Surface [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/E0316A7B-7F94-46C8-AE8D87752FA6DF8A_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Best Images Ever of Mercury's Scorched Surface [Slide Show]
As the MESSENGER spacecraft prepares a planned death plunge into the planet's surface, the mission has sent back some of the best images ever taken of Mercury
Best Images Ever of Mercury's Scorched Surface
As a spacecraft prepares a planned death plunge into the planet's surface, the mission has sent back some of the best images ever taken of Mercury
NASA Launches Next-Generation Scientific Balloon
Superpressure technology could keep gamma-ray telescope aloft for 100 days or more around Antarctica
Planet Hunters Plot Course for Inhabited Worlds
Researchers aim to set aside differences in search for life on distant worlds
Comet-Landing Spacecraft's Exact Location Still Eludes Scientists
The search for Philae intensifies as researchers try to determine if it can recharge its batteries, wherever it is on comet 67P
Giant Dunes on Saturn Moon Track Its Ancient Climate
Dune shapes on Titan reflect long-term weather patterns that result from winds and the moon's orbital wobbles
Japan's Next Asteroid Sample-Return Probe Delayed
Thick cloud cover postponed the launch of Hayabusa-2, which was set to leave for a carbon-rich space rock on Sunday
Next Wave of U.S. Supercomputers Could Break Up Race for Fastest
National Labs are now collaborating, not competing, to make the fastest supercomputers, which should enable new types of science to model everything from climate change to materials science to nuclear-weapons performance...
Half of Stars Lurk Outside Galaxies
A rocket experiment has captured the glow attributed to renegade stars in intergalactic space
Quantum World Proposed to Arise from Many Ordinary Ones
A radical theory proposes that interactions among classical worlds can explain some quantum phenomena
Gas-Spewing Icelandic Volcano Stuns Scientists
The sulfur-rich eruption defied preparations for an ashy blast
Mars Losing Parts of Itself
NASA's MAVEN mission detects a hydrogen cloud blowing off the Red Planet
Cyanide Cloud Puts a Chill in Titan's Air
Icy particles high above the south pole of this Saturnian moon are upending some ideas about weather patterns on Titan
Wet Exoplanet Has Clear Skies
A Neptune-sized orb is the smallest alien world known to have water vapor
Einstein's "Time Dilation" Prediction Verified
Experiments at a particle accelerator have confirmed the "time dilation" effect predicted by Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity
Lost Ship from 19th-C. Franklin Expedition Found by Arctic Archaeologists
Two ships led by Sir John Franklin vanished in 1859 en route to finding and exploring a Northwest passage
NASA to Send 3-D Printer to Space
The machine is expected to let astronauts create parts to order
Jupiter's Moon Europa Has Plate Tectonics Like Earth's
The discovery could buoy bids for a mission to the Jovian moon
