◆ What Lies Ahead ◆

The Future?

The future has always been speaking. The question is whether anyone is listening. These are the warnings, the alarms and the celestial signals pointing to what comes next.

The Drake Equation formula and Fermi Paradox on a blackboard beneath a Milky Way night sky searching for extraterrestrial life
The Future? · Are We Alone

The Drake Equation: How Many Civilisations Are Out There?

Frank Drake's famous equation promised a way to estimate how many intelligent civilisations inhabit the Milky Way. More than sixty years later, it still asks one of humanity's biggest unanswered questions: are we alone?

· 6 MIN READ
What happens to Earth when the Sun dies? Artist's impression of a future Earth beneath a hotter, expanding Sun
The Future? · Existential Threats

What Happens to Earth When the Sun Dies? Earth's Fate Explained

The Sun is halfway through its life. In about a billion years Earth loses its oceans, and five billion years from now the star that made us becomes a red giant.

· 6 MIN READ
Astronaut alone on the Martian surface contemplating a year on Mars, rocky desert and orange sunset sky
The Future? · The Final Frontier

A Year on Mars: What Life on the Red Planet Would Actually Look Like

The first crew to reach Mars will spend roughly 500 days on the surface before the planets align enough to let them leave. Here is what the first year might actually look like.

· 3 MIN READ
Fermi Paradox alien alone in a diner, Saturn and deep space visible through the window
The Future? · Are We Alone

What Is the Fermi Paradox? Are We Alone in the Universe?

Are we alone in the universe? The conditions for life appear to be everywhere. The evidence for it, beyond Earth, is nonexistent. The Fermi Paradox has been asking why for seventy years.

· 4 MIN READ
Concept illustration of domed habitats and a communications dish where humans might land on Mars
The Future? · The Final Frontier

When Will Humans Land on Mars? SpaceX, NASA and the Honest Answer

NASA says the 2030s. SpaceX has been saying the 2020s for the better part of fifteen years. The honest answer to when humans will land on Mars requires getting past the press releases and into the engineering, and the engineering is where the story gets complicated.

· 7 MIN READ
Asteroid 2024 YR4 near the Moon, tracked by NASA planetary defence teams during the 2032 impact assessment
The Future? · Existential Threats

Asteroid 2024 YR4: The Moon Near-Miss That Changed Planetary Defence

For a few weeks earlier this year, asteroid 2024 YR4 had a genuine, calculated probability of striking the moon in 2032. Scientists ruled it out in March. What the episode revealed about our planetary defences is considerably less reassuring.

· 7 MIN READ
NASA moon base concept at the lunar south pole with Artemis habitats and astronauts
The Future? · Future Missions

NASA Moon Base Plans Explained: When Humans Could Live on the Moon

NASA plans to build a permanent Moon base at the lunar south pole. Discover the timeline, technology, Artemis missions and when humans could live on the Moon.

· 6 MIN READ