David Rothery

If intelligent life could evolve on Earth in a few billion years, why couldn’t at least some simple organisms exist elsewhere in our 4.5 billion-year-old solar system?

Since the New Horizons probe flew through the Pluto system on July 14, most of the attention has been on Pluto itself.

Salty streaks have been discovered on Mars, which could be a sign that salt water seeps to the surface in the summers.

The more we find out about Pluto, the more perplexing it seems.

Around 60 volcanoes erupt in the average year. On any particular day, there are usually about 20 volcanoes erupting somewhere in the world. Naturally, they can’t all make headlines. But when there are human tragedies involved, we need to question the priorities of the news media.

Exciting as it is (and it is incredibly exciting), the Rosetta mission is the latest in a history of comet exploration that has added to our knowledge of these icy dirtballs.

If intelligent life could evolve on Earth in a few billion years, why couldn’t at least some simple organisms exist elsewhere in our 4.5 billion-year-old solar system?

Since the New Horizons probe flew through the Pluto system on July 14, most of the attention has been on Pluto itself.

Salty streaks have been discovered on Mars, which could be a sign that salt water seeps to the surface in the summers.

The more we find out about Pluto, the more perplexing it seems.

Around 60 volcanoes erupt in the average year. On any particular day, there are usually about 20 volcanoes erupting somewhere in the world. Naturally, they can’t all make headlines. But when there are human tragedies involved, we need to question the priorities of the news media.

Exciting as it is (and it is incredibly exciting), the Rosetta mission is the latest in a history of comet exploration that has added to our knowledge of these icy dirtballs.