Scientists are going to attempt something in the next few weeks that no one has ever done. They're going to fly a helicopter on Mars.The robotic aircraft is named Ingenuity, and its core is about the size of a softball. For the past seven months, the device has been rocketing toward the Red Planet inside a rover called Perseverance. After traveling at nearly 25,000 miles per hour, they are scheduled to touch down on Martian soil Thursday. (Get updates at mars.nasa.gov/mars2020.)NASA has been exploring the surface of Mars with rovers for about 25 years, says Dave Lavery, a scientist and...…Scientists are going to attempt something in the next few weeks that no one has ever done. They're going to fly a helicopter on Mars.The robotic aircraft is named Ingenuity, and its core is about the size of a softball. For the past seven months, the device has been rocketing toward the Red Planet inside a rover called Perseverance. After traveling at nearly 25,000 miles per hour, they are scheduled to touch down on Martian soil Thursday. (Get updates at mars.nasa.gov/mars2020.)NASA has been exploring the surface of Mars with rovers for about 25 years, says Dave Lavery, a scientist and...WW…

October 9, 2020Researchers with a team monitoring bird populations at Powdermill NatureReserve, in Rector, Pennsylvania, netted a surprise on September 24: arose-breasted grosbeak with bizarre coloring. It had the bright scarletfeathers of a male grosbeak on one side of its body and the canary yellowplumage of a female on the other.When they saw the robin-size songbird’s split coloring, it was immediatelyclear that the grosbeak was what scientists call a bilateral gynandromorph—ananimal that appears half male and half female.“There was no question about it,” says ,bird banding program...…October 9, 2020Researchers with a team monitoring bird populations at Powdermill NatureReserve, in Rector, Pennsylvania, netted a surprise on September 24: arose-breasted grosbeak with bizarre coloring. It had the bright scarletfeathers of a male grosbeak on one side of its body and the canary yellowplumage of a female on the other.When they saw the robin-size songbird’s split coloring, it was immediatelyclear that the grosbeak was what scientists call a bilateral gynandromorph—ananimal that appears half male and half female.“There was no question about it,” says ,bird banding program...WW…