As a child, Tim Samaras frustrated his parents by sneaking kitchen appliances into his bedroom to dismantle them. One day his mother had to coax him to come watch a movie musical with her. It was The Wizard of Oz, and the 9-year-old sat transfixed throughout the tornado scene. As he recalled last year, his only thought was: “I’ve got to take that apart!” For much of the last two decades, the tornado chaser tried to do just that (SN: 7/28/12, p. 32). On May 31, Samaras, 55, died along with his 24-year-old son Paul and meteorologist Carl Young, 45. The storm chasers were caught in t... (p. 32)

At least 1.5 billion years after it last saw the surface, flowing liquid may host life.