Black Hole Devours Cosmic Cloud, and More – The Countdown, Episode 27
Links for the top five stories: The Other Blue Planet Neptune’s New Moon Sizing Up Neutron Stars Meteorite Reveals History of Mars’ Crust Black Hole Devours Cosmic Cloud
"mars"
Miniature Big Bang Created in Ultra-Cold Lab, and More – The Countdown, Episode 30
More to explore: Earth life ‘may have come from Mars’ (BBC News) Maybe Mars Seeded Earth’s Life, Maybe It Didn’t (Scientific American Blog Network) China Plans Its First Unmanned Moon Landing This Year (New York Times) China to launch lunar probe for landing mission (Xinhua) NASA Data Reveals Mega-Canyon under Greenland Ice Sheet (NASA) Space [...]..
Mystery of Mars ‘Doughnut’ Rock Solved
About a month ago an intriguing pair of images from NASA’s Opportunity rover on Mars showed a curious rock that had seemingly appeared our of nowhere during the course of 12 days.
Something’s Cooking on Mars
What do you get when you cook buried martian mudstone in your oven? The answer appears to be the kind of gases you’d expect if you cooked organic material here on Earth.
The Failure of Phobos
A new explanation for the strange grooves on the surface of the martian moon Phobos suggests that the entire satellite already shows signs of how it will eventually be destroyed.
There's Methane in Them Thar Martian Rocks!
Indigenous methane appears to exist in Martian rocks
![Ultraviolet Mars [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/blogs/cache/file/D0B8BAD8-6A41-4BB5-BB3E587CAE2D5E35_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Ultraviolet Mars [Video]
NASA's MAVEN mission returns stunning ultraviolet images of the Red Planet
Another 1/230,000,000th of a Galactic Orbit
As the solar year ends, let's try to stop being so parochial
The Shifting Politics of NASA's Astronaut Program
Ever since President George W. Bush's decision to retire the space shuttles in the aftermath 2003's Columbia disaster, NASA's human spaceflight program has been adrift.
Tricksy Mars may be Obscuring Signs of Organic Matter
Picture a hot volcanic spring. Mineral-laden acidic water flows through sulfur-rich rocks. A foul odor hangs in the air. For us it’s a nasty environment, best enjoyed through the lens of a tourist’s camera...
Seven Reasons Space Scientists Are Tougher Than You Think
Whether it is waiting to hear about draft picks or the next release by Apple, there are many things that make enthusiasts hold their breath.
The Great Martian Storm of ’71
On November 14th 1971 NASA’s Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to successfully orbit another planet...
What Rabbits and Martian Rovers Taught Me About Scale
Quite often when I am looking at photos, I just feel like something is missing. It is not a criticism of the light or the composition, but rather that something is, quite literally, missing: a scale...
Goodnight, Opportunity: So Long, and Thanks for All the Geology!
RIP Oppy (January 25, 2004–June 10, 2018)
The Great Alien Debate (Part 1)
This post is one in a series covering, and expanding on, topics in the book The Copernicus Complex (Scientific American/FSG). The conversation usually goes like this: Do you think we’re alone in the universe?...
Mars and the Waves of Darkening
Be careful what you wish for, the universe can look alive when it's not
The Distant Shores of Mars
A complex interplay of gravity, volcanoes and planetary wobble could pin down the age of oceans on Mars
![Mars: As You've Never Seen It Before [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/blogs/cache/file/C1C62D7D-4656-4DC2-A0A8465CA86C215B_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Mars: As You've Never Seen It Before [Video]
An astonishing rendering of 12 years of orbital images brings the planet to life
![NASA's 50 Years of Mars Exploration [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/blogs/cache/file/25E79892-D832-4B5B-B723D390B47D661F_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
NASA's 50 Years of Mars Exploration [Video]
Humans have been visiting and exploring Mars for more than half a century, and NASA has released a video celebrating the agency's remarkable contributions
![10 Views of Earth from the Moon, Mars and Beyond [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/CE2DFAB9-FF97-4ACD-921921C73F0ED256_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
10 Views of Earth from the Moon, Mars and Beyond [Slide Show]
For more than 40 years, missions throughout the solar system have sent back stunning images of our home planet
