Cold, dry planets could have a lot of hurricanes

Nearly every atmospheric science textbook ever written will say that hurricanes are an inherently wet phenomenon—they use warm, moist air for fuel. But according to new simulations, the storms can also form in very cold, ...

NASA's MRO completes 60,000 trips around Mars

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter hit a dizzying milestone this morning: It completed 60,000 loops around the Red Planet at 10:39 a.m. PDT (1:39 p.m. EDT). On average, MRO takes 112 minutes to circle Mars, whipping around ...

Mars is the next step for humanity – we must take it

Elon Musk has built a US$12 billion company in an endeavour to pave the way to Mars for humanity. He insists that Mars is a "long-term insurance policy" for "the light of consciousness" in the face of climate change, extinction ...

How strong is the gravity on Mars?

The planet Mars shares numerous characteristics with our own. Both planets have roughly the same amount of land surface area, sustained polar caps, and both have a similar tilt in their rotational axes, affording each of ...

What astrobiology teaches us about living well on Earth

When a Mars rover leaves a trail of tracks in the Martian dunes, is it a tragic imprint of human intrusion on a pristine alien landscape billions of years old, or the first hopeful sign of intelligent life arriving on a long-dead ...

Mars: What lies beneath

There is much more to Mars than meets the eye. By using the radar on Mars Express, we can see several kilometres below the surface to see what lies beneath.

page 4 from 5