Aurora over Steinvikholmen Castle

Aurora borealis over Norway's Steinvikholmen Castle on April 3, by Hallvor Hobbyfotograf Lillebo.

Throat of Fire volcano in Ecuador erupts explosively

A five-minute explosion from Tungurahua volcano shot hot gas and rock 6 miles (10 km) into the air on April 4, 2014. More explosions and tremors followed.

New atomic clock won’t gain or lose a second in 300 million years

The NIST has launched a new hyper-accurate atomic clock for the U.S. time standard called NIST-F2. The clock uses a 'fountain' of cesium atoms to determine the exact length of a second.

Biggest galaxy cluster bigger than thought

El Gordo - the largest galaxy cluster in the universe - is about 3 million billion times more massive than our sun, roughly 43 percent more massive than earlier estimates.

Computer maps 21 distinct emotional expressions

... even seemingly contradictory ones, like "happily disgusted."

Mars rover shadow self-portrait

The Mars rover Opportunity caught this image of its own silhouette.

Hidden ocean discovered on Saturn’s moon Enceladus

A large ocean under Enceladus' icy surface supplies the water that's been seen spraying out of the "tiger stripes" on its surface, suggests new research.

Mercury has a long history of exploding volcanoes

Throughout extended periods of its history, the surface of planet Mercury crackled with volcanic explosions, a new analysis suggests.

Why do zebras have stripes? To keep bugs off, says study

Researchers say they've solved the riddle of why zebras have stripes: The stripes act like insect repellant, keeping away blood-sucking flies, say researchers.

Another powerful earthquake rocks northern Chile

For the second time in two days, a powerful earthquake has struck Chile. Today's quake was 7.6 magnitude. It's considered an aftershock of the 8.2-magnitude quake on April 1.