IN THE NEWS.

The terror alert level was briefly raised to magenta after a large crate was found left outside the gates of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The only external marking was the words “RETURN TO SENDER” in large stenciled letters. A bomb-disposal unit dispatched to the site found no evidence of explosives and carefully opened the crate, which proved to contain the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover in a well-used condition. NASA has not released a statement to the press, and reporters’ questions have so far been met with “No comment.”