Certain items seem to have just the right combination of shapes and colors to have universal aesthetic appeal. For example, few fail to appreciate the glory of a sunset on the beach, and many varieties of flowers have captivated people since time immemorial. Although the world is filled with a multitude of such wonders, only mankind seems to possess the ability to appreciate beauty.

Astronomers generally believe that Mars was formed billions of years ago. About 96 percent of the Red Planet's atmosphere is composed of carbon dioxide.¹ NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander began transmitting detailed data about the planet's atmosphere in 2008, and a recent analysis of the information has revealed that its atmosphere actually looks young.

A "stunning" fossil was discovered by 15-year-old James Dickinson while he was fossil hunting at a beach in southern England. The area where he found it, Lyme Regis, is well known as a "treasure trove" for fossils. But the tiny lobster James discovered contained a very rare feature--parts of its original shell.

Cell division seems comparatively straightforward when viewed under a microscope. One cell replicates itself and splits into two daughter cells, enabling an organism to develop, grow, and replace cells in its body. But there is no easy way to describe the details of how cells actually achieve this orderly division.

Wild habitats are shrinking as the human population grows. Many wild creatures have increasingly fewer places to live or face deteriorating environments. Finding a method that would detect whether an organism is under so much stress that its population is about to die out would be helpful to those wishing to preserve endangered species.