When Alfred McEwen tells you a place on Mars has warm summers, don’t picture the Florida Keys—think Antarctica at its balmiest. McEwen, the lead scientist for the filing-cabinet-sized camera riding on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, took photos five years ago of dark, water-like trails on slopes where temperatures on summer days can sometimes reach the melting point of water. But to test to see if water really created the trails, the scientists needed more than ordinary photos. Full Article »

Scientists disagree over whether a brain implant for treating the most depressed patients is ready for clinical testing.

One research group, led by Emory psychiatry professor Helen Mayberg, experimented with thirty patients who had developed a major depressive disorder unresponsive to Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments such as medication, counseling, and electroconvulsive therapy. Full Article »