Stories by Alexandra Witze

Shaking struck near Kathmandu, where buildings collapsed and thousands are feared dead

New data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft suggest varied origins for tantalizing gleams on the dwarf planet's surface

A spacecraft has discovered surprises in the Red Planet's upper atmosphere

Early data from the Dawn spacecraft could clear up a mystery about the dwarf planet

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

Indonesia is most at risk from eruptions, compared with other nations

Superpressure technology could keep gamma-ray telescope aloft for 100 days or more around Antarctica

Researchers aim to set aside differences in search for life on distant worlds

The search for Philae intensifies as researchers try to determine if it can recharge its batteries, wherever it is on comet 67P

Dune shapes on Titan reflect long-term weather patterns that result from winds and the moon's orbital wobbles

Thick cloud cover postponed the launch of Hayabusa-2, which was set to leave for a carbon-rich space rock on Sunday

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

A rocket experiment has captured the glow attributed to renegade stars in intergalactic space

A radical theory proposes that interactions among classical worlds can explain some quantum phenomena

The sulfur-rich eruption defied preparations for an ashy blast

NASA's MAVEN mission detects a hydrogen cloud blowing off the Red Planet

Icy particles high above the south pole of this Saturnian moon are upending some ideas about weather patterns on Titan

A Neptune-sized orb is the smallest alien world known to have water vapor

Experiments at a particle accelerator have confirmed the "time dilation" effect predicted by Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity

Two ships led by Sir John Franklin vanished in 1859 en route to finding and exploring a Northwest passage

The machine is expected to let astronauts create parts to order

The discovery could buoy bids for a mission to the Jovian moon

Lava flows from Bárðarbunga after nearly two weeks of seismic unrest

Scientists spot ice shoving rocks on Racetrack Playa in California, resolving a longstanding geological enigma