Mars

NASA set to turn up the heat in Phoenix Mars Lander's soil-sniffing ovens

Phoenix Lander fills first oven with dirt; succeeds with sprinkle method

NASA tells Phoenix to shake metal screen to dislodge sample

Images from Mars's newest inhabitant document its quest for water

After a communications hiccup, mission control orders Phoenix to limber up its robotic arm

NASA crosses fingers for success of risky landing

Phoenix to study history of water and climate on the Red Planet

Dust devils greet Mars lander; Carbon nanotubes measure spiciness; Autism linked to schizophrenia ... and more

Wind gusts might be rare in the thin Martian atmosphere, but that doesn't stop the Red Planet from kicking up a mean sandstorm every five years or so.

Planetary scientist resigns less than a year after being appointed to run NASA's budget-strapped science office

Mainstream Economics and the Environmental Crisis

Andrew Knoll, professor of earth and planetary sciences at Harvard, points out the reason we know so much about the conditions that might have or probably wouldn't have supported any microbial life on Mars: food scientists trying to keep our food free of deadly microbes. Steve Mirsky reports from the AAAS conference in Boston.