Science

A comet from another star hints that our solar system isn't one-of-a-kind
The comet, 2I/Borisov, looks surprisingly like comets closer to home. It's a sign that the processes that formed the sun and planets are at work elsewhere in the universe.
A 'mole' isn't digging Mars, and NASA engineers are trying to find out why
After equipment carried by the InSight lander had trouble drilling a sophisticated thermometer into the Martian surface, a Plan B also didn't work — and the instrument ended up backing itself out of the ground.
'Perfect storm' of fall weather - and falling numbers - hits wheat farmers hard
Wheat farmers thought they had a solid crop that might turn a profit in a bleak year for agriculture. Then they hauled the crop to the elevator and found out an unexpected problem sharply reduced the value of the crop. It’s a story about weather, chemistry — and bread.
Antarctic research takes the cake in these science-inspired confections
A former sous chef at Antarctica's McMurdo Station is creating cakes inspired by her colleagues' research projects. She says cake can be a gateway to conversations people might otherwise shy away from.
Minnesota asked me to gather deer spleens for science. It wasn’t easy
When the DNR asked hunters this season to send in deer spleens to be tested for neonicotinoid pesticides, MPR’s Bemidji correspondent, an avid hunter, volunteered. But it turns out ID’ing a deer spleen in the woods isn’t so simple — even in the YouTube era.