I was just so impressed with the diversity and inventiveness of the artwork submitted. To me, it bespeaks of a vast global awareness and excitement about imagining and exploring a neighboring world that is so like our own in some ways and so completely alien in others.

215

We need more Venus missions to really answer the biggest mysteries about the planet. Venus Express will be a great mission and will tell us a lot about the planet, but I think to really make the next leaps in understanding Venus we're going to have to do something more than just orbit the planet. We need to take the plunge and explore the clouds and the surface directly.

183

In environments that are energy-rich but liquid-poor, like near the surface of Titan, natural selection may favor organisms that use their metabolic heat to melt their own watering holes.

173

They might do photosynthesis in the ultraviolet as opposed to the visual spectrum. It's a tremendous amount of energy if you can make use of it instead of being killed by it. It's unusual, but natural selection makes the best out of adversity.

107