
Do other planets have solar eclipses?
Do the other Solar System planets also experience total and partial solar eclipses like the ones we witness on Earth? The answer is yes: solar eclipses frequently happen throughout the Solar System. A…

Martian colonists could live in ancient volcanic lava tunnels
Scientists have discovered the safest place to build a permanent base on Mars: lava tunnels created by volcanoes that are now extinct. Unlike Earth, Mars does not have a magnetic field that protects…

“Blueberries” could be key to Martian life
It’s unlikely that anything still lives on Mars today, but anything that was around millions or even billions of years ago might have left a few traces behind.

A new era (Dreaming of Mars, part 3)
Setting up a permanent base on Mars may no longer be a dream. The plans are already there, we only need funding. Will we reach Mars by 2030?

Dreaming of Mars, part 2
When the Mariner 9 space probe entered into its orbit around Mars in November 1971, it was met with cheers from the control centre in California, in the US. The probe had been…

Dreaming of Mars, part 1
Since the 1960s, humans have been tested in preparation for a journey to Mars. Subjects have been crammed into sealed steel containers of only a few square metres, with minimal water, food and…

Live from the ultimate robot competition
While this cute “˜astrodog’ was posing, 11 teams of engineers from across the US were trying to develop the next generation of robots at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. The new autonomous…