Mercury

Earth’s poles are famously icy places, but they’re far from alone in that regard. The poles of other planets and moons are often the best places to look for ice, and now a new analysis of NASA data has found evidence of much more water ice on the Moon and Mercury than previously thought.

Saturn may sport the most famous rings in the solar system, but it’s far from the only thing with some bling. Now, two new studies have found evidence of new rings in the inner solar system – a dusty one in the orbit of Mercury and a new set of asteroids following Venus’ path around the Sun.

ESA's BepiColombo spacecraft has fired up all four of its ion thrusters as it begins the first of 22 burn arcs. The engines will fire for two months as they propel the unmanned probe on the start of its 9-billion-km (5.6-billion-mi) journey to explore the planet Mercury.

Los Angeles-based Icon does the "electrified classic" a little differently, preserving the aged look and patina of a 1949 Mercury while adding a 200-mile (322-km), 400-hp (298-kW) dual-motor electric powertrain.​ It's a sleeper for the electric age.

​​Scientists on the ESA’s first mission to Mercury have confirmed the outgoing BepiColombo spacecraft’s imaging instruments are in working order, with the probe snapping its first selfies and successfully returning them to Earth.​

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission is on its way to Mercury, but instead of coasting to the smallest planet in the Solar System, it will be helped along by four state-of-the-art ion thrusters developed by an industrial consortium led by British company QinetiQ.

ESA's first mission to the planet Mercury lifted off today from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. At 10:45 pm GFT (October 20, 01:45 GMT), the BepiColombo spacecraft rose on a tail of fire into the night atop an Ariane 5 booster on the start of a voyage that will take seven years.

An official launch date has been set for the long-planned BepiColombo​ mission to Mercury. The joint ESA/JAXA deep space probe will lift off atop an Ariane 5 rocket from the ESA Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana on October 18, 2018.

The fact mercury makes up roughly 50 percent of the content of dental amalgam is a contentious subject for many, and a new study that found MRIs can release the toxic heavy metal from fillings is sure to give those in the anti-amalgam camp even more to chew on.

Google Maps is both amazing and a little terrifying at times. Not content to just map out almost every corner of the Earth, Google has now added the ability to explore 12 other worlds in our little corner of the galaxy.

​With blistering daytime temperatures of up to 800º F (427º C), Mercury isn’t the first planet in the solar system you’d think to look for ice, but conditions at the poles are perfect. Now, a new study from Brown University has found that Mercury may be even icier than previously thought.

​Picture a plum. When it is ripe, the surface is smooth, but when it starts to age and shrink, wrinkles can appear along the surface. Researchers now believe that Mercury's newly discovered Great Valley was formed in much the same way.