Curious, indeed! Our pal Curiosity recently captured "several whirlwinds carrying Martian dust across Gale Crater" on Mars, according to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. These dust devils rise up when sunshine warms the ground, prompting convective rising of air. In the video below, timing is accelerated and contrast has been modified to make frame-to-frame changes easier to see, NASA JPL explained online. | Space.com

This page explores the world beyond limits. What they ran into is called a dust devil, a small rotating column of hot air that forms on sunny days when the ground heats up quickly. As warm air rises and cooler air moves in, it can start spinning and pick up dust, sand, and debris from the surface. Unlike tornadoes, dust devils don’t need storms or thunderclouds to form. They’re usually short-lived and much weaker, but they can still surprise you with sudden bursts of wind. Fun to watch, but a re