Origami swan

A swan created using modular origami, a paperfolding technique which uses two or more sheets of paper to create a larger and more complex structure than possible with single-piece origami techniques. Each individual sheet of paper is folded into a module, or unit, and then modules are assembled into an integrated flat shape or three-dimensional structure by inserting flaps into pockets created by the folding process. These insertions create tension or friction that holds the model together.

Eruption of Mount Agung

In 2017 Mount Agung, a volcano on the island of Bali in Indonesia erupted violently enough to cause evacuation and air-flight disruption. As of 27 November 2017 the alert level is at its highest and evacuation orders are in place. The eruption caused some 40,000 people to be evacuated from 22 villages around Mount Agung. It also caused surrounding airports to be closed. Lombok International Airport, located on the neighboring island of Lombok, closed on 26 November and was reopened the next morning. Ngurah Rai International Airport, located at the southern tip of the island and southwest of the volcano, closed on 27 November. More than 400 flights were canceled, and about 50,000 passengers were grounded.

Oumuamua: the first interstellar asteroid

Oumuamua is the first interstellar object to pass through the Solar System. It was discovered on a highly eccentric hyperbolic trajectory on 19 October 2017, 40 days after turning around the Sun. The first observations were made by the Pan-STARRS telescope when the object was 0.2 AU from Earth, heading away from the Sun. It is the first of a new class of interstellar objects. As a result of its strongly hyperbolic trajectory, it will pass Neptune's orbit in 2022 and leave the Oort cloud in roughly 20,000 years. The amount of time the object has been drifting among the stars in the galactic disc is unknown.

Curiosity rover in search of microbial life on Mars

This image features NASA's Curiosity rover, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life. Curiosity landed near the Martian equator on Aug. 5 PDT. In this picture, the rover examines a rock on Mars with a set of tools at the end of the rover's arm, which extends about 7 feet (2 meters). Two instruments on the arm can study rocks up close. A drill can collect sample material from inside of rocks and a scoop can pick up samples of soil. The arm can sieve the samples and deliver fine powder to instruments inside the rover for thorough analysis. The mast, or rover's "head," rises to about 6.9 feet above ground level, about as tall as a basketball player. This mast supports two remote-sensing science instruments: the Mast Camera, or "eyes," for stereo color viewing of surrounding terrain and material collected by the arm; and, the Chemistry and Camera instrument, which uses a laser to vaporize a speck of material on rocks up to about 23 feet away and determines what elements the rocks are made of.