Heavy rains and flooding in northeastern Brazil have killed at least 18 people, wounded 286 others and displaced some 35,000 residents, AFP reported Sunday.
The big picture: The Brazilian state of Bahia has been pummeled by heavy rains since early November, causing two dams to burst over the weekend as more deaths from the extreme weather were confirmed, Reuters notes.
Space science next year will be rocketed forward with missions to the Moon, asteroids, Mars and the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope coming online.
Why it matters: The data sent back to Earth from these upcoming missions will help scientists learn more than ever before about objects in the solar system and far beyond it.
