1 June – NASA scientists detect signs of a dust storm on the planet Mars which may affect the survivability of the solar-powered Opportunity rover since the dust may block the sunlight (see image) needed to operate; as of 12 June, the storm spanned an area about the size of North America and Russia combined (about a quarter of the planet); as of 13 June, Opportunity was reported to be experiencing serious communication problem(s) due to the dust storm;[176] a NASA teleconference about the dust storm was presented on 13 June 2018 at 01:30 pm/et/usa and is available for replay.[174][175][177][178] On 20 June, NASA reported that the dust storm had grown to completely cover the entire planet.[179][180] 4 June – Direct coupling of the Higgs boson with the top quark is observed for the first time by the ATLAS experiment[181] and the CMS experiment[182] at CERN.