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(a) Schematic illustration of the preparation process of RGM nanostructure foam. SEM images of (b–c) as-grown GM foam (d) Lightly loaded RGM, and (e) heavily loaded RGM.

This artist's concept depicts the stationary NASA Mars lander known by the acronym InSight at work studying the interior of Mars.

Scientists at Princeton University have shown that negatively charged particles known as electrons can flow extremely rapidly due to quantum behaviors in a type of material known as a topological Dirac semi-metal. Previous work by the same group indicated that these electrons can flow on the surface of certain materials, but the new research indicates that they can also flow through the bulk of the material, in this case cadmium arsenide. Using a technique called angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (left), the researchers measured the energy and momentum of electrons as they were ejected from the cadmium arsenide. The resulting data revealed each electron as two cones oriented opposite each other that converge at a point, a telltale sign of the quantum behavior that allows electrons to act like light, which has no mass. A 3-D reconstruction (right) shows that the cone-shaped electrons are able to move in all directions in the material. The top-right panel reveals that these electrons are linked, allowing them to move even when deformed by bending or stretching, an attribute that gives them their topological nature.

Perched between Brazil and Suriname lies French Guiana, Europe’s gateway to the galaxy. It might boast a majestic rainforest, but as a French territory it is still part of the European Union and even uses the euro as its currency.

The tiny aluminum device—only 40 microns long and 100 nanometers thick—in which Caltech researchers observed the quantum noise from microwaves.

Jupiter's trademark Great Red Spot — a swirling storm feature larger than Earth — is shrinking. This downsizing, which is changing the shape of the spot from an oval into a circle, has been known about since the 1930s, but now these striking new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images capture the spot at a smaller size than ever before.

Comet develops a coma

Rabe crater perspective view

The Mars Hand Lens Imager on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover provided this nighttime view of a hole produced by the rover's drill and, inside the hole, a line of scars produced by the rover's rock-zapping laser. The camera used its own white-light LEDs to illuminate the scene on May 13, 2014.