Latest Andrew Ryan Stories

Lee Rannals for RedOrbit.com New photos taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show unique lava flows on Mars that resemble patterns seen on Earth. The lava flows reveal coiling spiral patterns that resemble snail or nautilus shells, according to research published in the scientific journal Science on Friday. On Earth, lava coils can be found on the Big Island of Hawaii, mainly on the surface of ropey pahoehoe lava...

In a particularly parched region of an extraordinary planet, rocks big and small glide across a mirror-flat landscape, leaving behind a tangle of trails. Some rocks travel in pairs, their two tracks so perfectly in synch along straight stretches and around curves that they seem to be made by a car. Others go freewheeling, wandering back and forth alone and sometimes traveling the length of several football fields. In many cases, the trails lead right to resting rocks, but in others, the...