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Mercury is weird because of a 'hit-and-run' incident in its youth
By Sharmila Kuthunur published
"What surprised us, at the end, was how effective this type of impact could be in explaining Mercury's unusual structure without needing to consider multiple collisions or extremely rare conditions."

Scientists finally know how long a day on Uranus is
By Skyler Ware published
An 11-year Hubble study has finally revealed how long a day lasts on Uranus.

NASA rover watches 'fiendish' Martian 'dust devils' collide in rare case of extraterrestrial cannibalism
By Harry Baker published
Video footage captured by NASA's Perseverance rover shows a small "dust devil" merging with a much larger twister on the surface of Mars.

Powerful solar winds squish Jupiter's magnetic field 'like a giant squash ball'
By Victoria Corless published
A massive solar windstorm in 2017 compressed Jupiter's magnetosphere "like a giant squash ball," a new study reports.

Mars: Facts about the Red Planet, its moons, and possibilities for life
By Adam Mann, Brandon Specktor last updated
Discover interesting facts about Mars, its moons, its atmosphere, and the possibilities of life.

James Webb telescope could find signs of life on alien 'hycean' ocean worlds
By Paul Sutter published
If such worlds exist, they could be among the most common life-bearing planets in the galaxy.

Perseverance rover spots peculiar 'spider egg' rock on Mars — and scientists have no idea how it got there
By Damien Pine published
On March 11, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover spotted a mysterious rock made of hundreds of tiny spheres that resemble spider eggs. Studying its formation could help us look for fossilized remains of microbial life on Mars.

James Webb telescope captures auroras on Neptune for first time ever
By Skyler Ware published
The James Webb Space Telescope has successfully detected auroras on Neptune for the first time ever, finishing a job that NASA's Voyager 2 probe began decades ago.

'Extremely Large Telescope' being built in Chile could detect signs of alien life in a single night
By Brian Koberlein published
The Extremely Large Telescope will revolutionize our view of the cosmos when it sees first light in Chile in 2028. In fact, it could detect hints of alien life around our closest neighboring star system in its first night of operations, new simulations suggest.
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