Lack of snow forces Iditarod start north

Alaska’s famous Iditarod sled dog race traditionally runs from Anchorage to Nome. But this year, lack of snow forced a reroute and moved the kickoff 250 miles north.

Watch MMS spacecraft launch March 12

A stack of four identical spacecraft will study Earth's magnetosphere - the comet-shaped magnetic shield that protects us from "space weather." Watch the launch.

Earth-directed solar X-flare March 11

The sun has been relatively quiet, and this is the first X-flare of 2015. It caused a brief radio blackout at some frequencies. Possible aurora alert ahead.

Video: Cockroaches have personalities

Some are brave and some are shy.

This dog can smell cancer

This is Frankie, a German shepherd mix. He can sniff out thyroid cancer in patients’ urine samples with 88% accuracy, according to a new study.

Video: Dance of the Northern Lights

A quiet night for auroras at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada - located at at 58° North, under the auroral oval - is a spectacular auroral display for most of us.

Solar-powered plane begins first round-the-world flight

Swiss plane Solar Impulse 2 landed Monday in Muscat, Oman, the first stopover in the attempt to fly around the world powered by the sun alone. Follow the flight.

Dusty galaxy in the early universe

A very early galaxy containing what astronomers call "dust" - elements such as carbon, iron and oxygen - raw materials for making planets.

Distant planet has four suns

Were it possible to see the skies from this world, the four parent stars would look like one small sun and two very bright stars visible in the daylight.

Mars lost ocean of water to space

About 4 billion years ago, a primitive ocean on Mars held more water than Earth's Arctic Ocean, say researchers, but Mars has lost 87 percent of it to space.