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Earth is active down to its very rocks. Earthquakes and volcanoes shake our planet, and the continents themselves drift lazily across the surface. Compared to Earth, the Moon is a cold, hard rock. But even lunar rocks are more active than you might think.

Scientists have just announced that they have the first photo of a black hole! But what does that actually mean? Read on to find out.

On Friday, a tiny spacecraft attempted to land on the Moon. It’s wasn’t from NASA or Roscosmos, or even China’s CNSA. The Beresheet Moon lander came from a small, not-for-profit company called SpaceIL, based in the tiny Middle Eastern country of Israel.

Imagine bacteria, clinging to a rock, floating deep in space. The rock was once blasted off its planet by a cataclysmic explosion. Hundreds of years in the future, the rock encounters a new planet, bringing these lonely bacteria with it. The question is, could the bacteria survive?

Written by Elvina Lee As they say in Star Trek, “Space: the final frontier”. How well do you know this big beyond? This week’s quiz will test your familiarity with all things space. If you’re after more fun science for kids, subscribe to Double Helix magazine!  

You might not think about it much, but there’s an amazing planet under your feet. Dig down about 50 kilometres and the rocky crust begins to give way to the hot, soft mantle. Deeper down, the rocks get hotter and runnier, reaching temperatures of thousands of degrees.

Astronauts have nerves of steel. They ride controlled explosions, strapped to giant tanks of rocket fuel. And every now and then, things go wrong. Last Thursday, two space explorers didn’t quite make it to space – but they lived to tell the tale!

Have you ever wanted to experiment with the orbits of moons and planets? Time to make a gravity simulator!

Sometimes space missions can seem a bit faddish. Four spacecraft are currently orbiting Mars, and at least three missions are looking for new planets outside our solar system. But the new hotness, it seems, is asteroids.

If you think the weather here on Earth is bad, be glad you don’t live on Mars. Storms currently cover much of the planet, with wind speeds of around 100 kilometres per hour. So spare a thought for the intrepid Mars rovers currently bearing the brunt of the storm.