When Earth is opposite Mars from the sun, it will appear full because you’re looking directly on the daylit side. But mitigating this is its far greater distance, plus the fact that Earth appears much smaller in the sky. So, irritatingly, when it’s closest to Mars, it’s faint, and when it’s farthest from Mars, it’s also faint!

An innovative technique for measuring the force acting on individual grains of sand could help scientists uncover how winds have shaped the surface of Mars. The method, developed by researchers at the State University of Campinas in Brazil,

For generations, scientists believed that the West Coast’s two great earthquake engines — the Cascadia subduction zone and the San Andreas fault — operated on separate geologic stages. One dives, one slides, and both hold immense destructive potential.

Mars has two moons, but they're not quite like Earth's moon. That's raised a lot of questions about where they're from, though we might get answers soon.

Right now there is no conclusive evidence of life on Mars past or present. Nasa’s “leopard spots” are the most promising signs we have, but these are still inconclusive. If life exists on Mars today, it is almost certainly not widespread like on Earth – our probes and rovers would have seen it.

New study shows Mars went through shrinking ice ages, revealing how it lost water and where future missions might find what's left.