Surprisingly youthful Mars surface helps alien hunt
NASA's Curiosity rover has dated rocks on the surface of Mars - their relative youth suggests that if there ever was life on Mars, Curiosity has a chance of finding it
Radioactive acid spill in Australian national park
A tank containing uranium ore and acid has burst, spilling a million litres of sludge into a mine inside the Kakadu National Park
Kneel before this giant undersea plough
The sea is home to many awe-inspiring behemoths – including human-made ones like this 35-tonne monster, which tills the seabed sowing cable
Quark stars: How can a supernova explode twice?
What do you get when you melt a neutron star? An unimaginably dense lump of strange matter and a whole new celestial beast, says Anil Ananthaswamy
Top-down or bottom-up? Two visions of smart cities
Two books explore what interactive technology can do for cities of the future – the results range from authoritarian to ideal, open-sourced democracies
How the US and China can help each other in space
As China sends its first rover to the moon, veteran US astronaut Leroy Chiao says it's time for NASA to reach out and cooperate
Fungal fashion: mushrooms à la mode
Lichen, toadstools and mould have a long history in fashion – see traditional and modern styles side by side in our gallery
Coin-flip judgement of psychopathic prisoners' risk
There are major flaws in the statistical tools for assessing whether people with serious psychological problems will reoffend, says psychiatrist Seena Fazel
Zoologger: The mollusc that never forgets a meal
Being able to keep track of what, where and when it has eaten could help the picky cuttlefish avoid being eaten itself
Icy fortress of solitude snapped by Antarctic survey
An alien-looking cloud looms over the blue shards of ice in the otherworldly Antarctic landscape being mapped by NASA's Operation IceBridge
Experience the world like a hawk, rat or bee in 3D game
An online simulation mimics the vision of five animals as a player steers them through Place Vendôme in Paris
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