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Researchers are creating a model of Mars’s climate evolution that could provide clues as to whether the Red Planet may have once been habitable. © Nazarii_Neshcherenskyi, Shutterstock.com
Space
Mars time machine: researchers create virtual model to decode Red Planet’s climate evolution
Researchers are creating advanced simulations that will provide a deeper understanding of Mars’s climatic history and help to determine whether it was once able to sustain life.
Geomagnetic storms in space can wreak havoc on Earth by knocking out satellites and power grids. © Elena11, Shutterstock.com
Space
Space researchers build traffic light system to warn of dangerous solar storms
Researchers have created an improved traffic light system for predicting geomagnetic storms. They are now…
Using powerful telescopes, researchers study how remote galaxies are formed, evolve and die. ©Triff, Shutterstock.com
Space
Star wars: what killed the universe’s massive galaxies?
Astronomers are closer than ever to working out how the biggest galaxies in the cosmos grew so quickly before…
Space engineers are working out how to bring back and store samples from Mars. Image credit: ‘Mars atmosphere 2’ by NASA is in the public domain
Space
Talks underway for world’s first alien life form facility in Europe
The world’s first alien life form containment facility is under discussion in Europe as the European Space Agency (ESA) looks at ways to bring a sample back to earth from Mars.
The collision of dense stars may have led to the formation of gold and other heavy elements. Image credit: Pixabay/ Public domain
Space
Gold could have come from colliding stars
If you are wearing a gold ring on your finger, it may well have started life in the collision of two neutron stars - small celestial objects that are formed when massive stars collapse.
By collecting gravitational wave data at facilities such as LIGO in the US, researchers can better understand the constantly changing nature of the universe. Image credit: LIGO Caltech
Space | Open to the World
What’s next for gravitational waves?
The sooner-than-expected discovery of gravitational waves, announced in February, has given a new impetus to scientists in the field, who are now working to make sense of what it means not only for…
Researchers are using quantum theories to better understand the behaviour of black holes such as the GX 339-4 binary system. Artist’s impression courtesy of ESA/ATG medialab
Space
Holograms and missing dimensions – the upside-down world of black holes
At the extremes of mass, energy, gravity and space-time – black holes still present a mystery for scientists, yet the key to finding a way forward is reconciling gravity, described by Albert Einstein…
Researchers are using the notoriously dry environment of the Atacama desert in northern Chile to test sensors that could detect any potential Martian bacteria. Image courtesy of the NASA ARADS project.
Space
Life could exist on Mars today, bacteria tests show
Life could exist on Mars, tests on microbes have revealed, but finding it will be no easy task.
Astronauts need faster spacecraft, better radiation protection and heat shields before they can enjoy the Martian landscape in person. Image Credit: NASA/JPL
Space
Electric deep-space engines could bring humankind to Mars
Sending astronauts to Mars poses several large challenges, among them a long journey filled with life-threatening radiation from cosmic ray exposure and solar flares. Not to mention the fact that we…
A virtual Mars could help researchers understand more about the planet’s valleys and water. Image courtesy of CROSSDRIVE
Space
Old Mars data paints new reality
Dozens of spacecraft have visited Mars over the years, generating untold amounts of data and expertise. Now scientists are bringing all of this together, with a hope of painting a new picture of the…
The ExoMars Project will help scientists analyse both the soil and atmosphere of Mars to investigate if there is any evidence of organic material on the planet, says ESA Director General, Prof. Jan Woerner. Image courtesy of Prof. Jan Woerner
Space | Interview | Open to the World
Life could have existed under Martian surface – ESA chief Woerner
There could have been life under the surface of Mars, according to Prof. Jan Woerner, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), which in March is launching its ExoMars mission to find out.
An artist's impression of the exoplanet HD 189733b as it passes its parent star. Improvements in observatory technology are helping astronomers search for exoplanets which may contain life. Image credit: NASA, ESA, L. Calçada
Space
Distant atmospheres narrow down search for alien life
By studying the atmospheres of distant planets with sensitive new light analysis techniques, astrobiologists might be able to pinpoint which ones could be home to alien lifeforms.
Gravitational waves produced by the merger of two black holes have been confirmed at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Image credit: Caltech/MIT/LIGO Laboratory
Frontier research | Space | Open to the World
Gravitational waves detected, scientists announce
Gravitational waves have been detected on earth for the first time, researchers at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in the US and the VIRGO detector in Italy have…

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