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Editors of EarthSky

NASA photos suggest water might be flowing on Mars

New clues about the mysterious streaks that appear on the surface of Mars during warm weather. Scientists they might be caused by flowing water.

The oldest known star in the universe

The ancient star, about 6,000 light years from Earth, formed 13.7 billion years ago, shortly after the Big Bang. It's the oldest star yet found.

What killed the woolly mammoth? New clues.

Ten thousand years ago, large mammals of the Arctic, like the woolly mammoth, went extinct. What caused it? Climate change? Disease? Over-hunting by humans?

What if the sun disappeared?

We wouldn't know the sun was gone for eight-and-a-half minutes. Then Earth would head off in a straight line, into eternal night.

Catch-and-release fishing creates too much trauma for some sharks

When a shark swims away after being caught by a catch-and-release sport fisherman, that doesn't mean the shark will survive the encounter.

Why does this brown dwarf have such strangely red skies ?

Brown dwarfs straddle the line between stars and planets. This one caught researchers' attention for its extremely red appearance. Turns out its atmosphere is laden with dust.

A uniquely human brain area?

It's called the ventrolateral frontal cortex. It's a part of the brain involved in human processes, such as strategic planning and multi-tasking.

Hearing improves after a week of blindness

A study suggests that the loss of one sense - vision - can improve another sense - in this case, hearing - by altering the brain circuit.

Kepler discovers a wobbly planet with weird seasons

On Earth, the cycle of precession lasts 26,000 years. The planet Kepler-413b precesses, or wobbles, wildly on its spin axis, in a cycle of only 11 years.

Dinosaur discovered in 2008 now known among largest land animals

Bone structure indicates that it was a juvenile, estimated to be 60 feet (18 meters) long. An adult would have been much larger.