Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

By studying a stream on the UK coast, experts have calculated how much organic matter we might find on Mars, and where to look. Imperial College London scientists have found traces of fatty acids – key building blocks of biological cells – in Dorset’s acidic streams. They say that because of the similarity of acidic streams in Dorset and on Mars, their findings hint that life might once have existed on Mars.

By applying their findings to the Red Planet, they concluded that there could be nearly 12,000 Olympic sized pools of organic matter on Mars that could represent traces of past life. Dorset is home to highly acidic sulphur streams that host bacteria which thrive in extreme conditions...

Artificial cells (false-color image) in a range of structures. Credit: Imperial College London

Researchers have used lasers to connect, arrange and merge artificial cells, paving the way for networks of artificial cells that act like tissues. The team say that by altering artificial cell membranes they can now get the cells to stick together like ‘stickle bricks’ – allowing them to be arranged into whole new structures.

Biological cells can perform complex functions, but are difficult to controllably engineer. Artificial cells, however, can in principle be made to order...

The molecule (yellow) blocks human NMT (blue), essential for the virus to assemble the capsid ‘shell’ that encloses its RNA genome (green)

Researchers have lab-tested a molecule that can combat the common cold virus by preventing it from hijacking human cells. Early lab-based tests with human cells have shown the molecule’s ability to completely block multiple strains of cold virus, and the team hope to move to animal and then human trials. The results of initial tests are published today in the journal Nature Chemistry.

The common cold is caused by a family of viruses with hundreds of variants, making it nearly impossible to become immune to or vaccinate against all of them. On top of that, the viruses evolve rapidly, meaning they can quickly gain resistance to drugs...

When the MOF is carbonised it transforms into a nano-diatom, much like a dragon egg turns into a fire-born dragon after fire treatment in Game of Thrones. Credit: Jingwei Hou

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London, University of Cambridge and Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research have discovered how a pinch of salt can be used to drastically improve the performance of batteries. They found that adding salt to the inside of a supermolecular sponge and then baking it at a high temperature transformed the sponge into a carbon-based structure. Surprisingly, the salt reacted with the sponge in special ways and turned it from a homogeneous mass to an intricate structure with fibres, struts, pillars and webs...