They call it 'a dream fulfilled' -- new homes designed for (and by) slum residents

Science news this week: Secret lives of whale sharks revealed, Earth's coldest temperature registered, and Amazonian geoglyphs show clues to lost civilization

Solar wind stirs Mars' upper atmosphere, boosting ion loss to space

Solar wind stirs Mars' upper atmosphere, boosting ion loss to space Alexander Pol Deputy Editor Our sun constantly releases a stream of high-speed charged particles, known as the solar wind. Unlike Earth, Mars does not have a strong global magnetic field to shield its atmosphere from this flow. As a result, the solar wind can interact directly with Mars' upper atmosphere and gradually strip atmospheric particles into space.

How fruit flies chase invisible ribbons of smell to get to their source

A fruit fly hunting a piece of rotting fruit or a mate navigates by smell, following plumes of odor. Out in the wild, turbulent air swirls these plumes into a chaotic, broken landscape—dense chemical filaments laced through long stretches of clean air. A fly trying to find the source gets the smell in stutters, from constantly shifting directions, with no guarantee that a next whiff is coming at all.

How fruit flies chase invisible ribbons of smell to get to their source

A fruit fly hunting a piece of rotting fruit or a mate navigates by smell, following plumes of odor. Out in the wild, turbulent air swirls these plumes into a chaotic, broken landscape—dense chemical filaments laced through long stretches of clean air. A fly trying to find the source gets the smell in stutters, from constantly shifting directions, with no guarantee that a next whiff is coming at all.