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    Giant canyon on Mars is still tectonically active today

    October 22, 2026, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Credit: Folarin Kolawole

    Scientists at Columbia University and Imperial College London have found that the largest canyon system in the solar system is still active and shaping Mars today, billions of years after it first formed.

    New research presents direct seismic evidence that a marsquake (Mars’s equivalent of an earthquake) detected by NASA’s InSight lander originated beneath the vast Martian canyon system, Valles Marineris, and was caused by rocks slipping along a fault deep within the planet’s crust.

    The finding suggests that faults established during the formation and early evolution of Valles Marineris billions of years ago can remain weak enough to rupture under stresses acting on Mars today.

    “Valles Marineris is one of the most spectacular geological structures anywh...

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    Earth and Mars: Built from different cosmic recipes

    October 2, 2026, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Image of Mars
    “You might have expected that two planets formed side by side in the same solar system would share a more similar formation history,” says Professor Anders Johansen, who co-led a new study about the origin of Earth and Mars. Photo: Canva

    Four and a half billion years ago, Earth and Mars were born in the rotating cloud of gas and dust that would eventually become our solar system. Yet exactly how the planets formed remains one of the most disputed questions in planetary science.

    Now, researchers at the University of Copenhagen are adding new evidence to the debate. Using a novel approach, they have reconstructed the earliest stages of the planets’ formation by analyzing their chemical composition.

    And the results surprised them.

    “The most surprising result was that Earth and Ma...

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    The Red Planet has a purple side

    September 23, 2026, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Mars is known for its reddish colour palette, a result of ancient iron oxides. But these striking pinks and purples are much different from the rest of the red planet. This orbital image shows Thyles Rupes, its cliff face, and a nearby glacier, where the atypical colours come from a mix of dust and frost. The image is from the High-Resolution Stereo Camera on the ESA's Mars Express orbiter. Image Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO or ESA Standard Licence
    Mars is known for its reddish colour palette, a result of ancient iron oxides. But these striking pinks and purples are much different from the rest of the red planet. This orbital image shows Thyles Rupes, its cliff face, and a nearby glacier, where the atypical colours come from a mix of dust and frost. The image is from the High-Resolution Stereo Camera on the ESA’s Mars Express orbiter. Image Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO or ESA Standard Licence

    Oxidized iron dominates the Martian color palette. The dusty reds, ochers, browns and tans give the planet its nickname: the Red Planet. But new images of Mars’ south polar region show something different...

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    This tiny organism refused to die under Mars-like illusion

    February 11, 2026, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Yeast Survives Mars-Like Conditions
    Scientists exposed yeast cells to extreme conditions resembling Mars — violent shock waves from meteorite impacts and toxic perchlorate salts found in Martian soil — and the cells survived. Credit: Shutterstock

    Baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is best known for its role in baking, brewing, and modern biotechnology. Yet this everyday microorganism may also offer insight into a far bigger question: how life might endure the extreme conditions found beyond Earth.

    Researchers from the Department of Biochemistry (BC) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), working with collaborators at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad, have discovered that yeast can survive environmental stresses similar to those on Mars...

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