"This exciting discovery is the closest we've come to discovering ancient life on Mars and answering one of humanity's deepest questions: Are we truly alone in the universe?" said NASA's Chief Scientist, Nicola Fox, on Wednesday. The representative of the US space agency enthusiastically outlined the results of the analysis of the samples taken by the rover. Perseverance collected last year on the red planet, in an area where a river flowed 3.8 billion years ago and emptied into a lake. The minerals found by the "six-wheeled geologist" then opened a window of optimism about the possibility of proving that microbial life could have existed outside of Earth billions of years ago. "And after a year of review, scientists told us, 'We can't find any other explanation,'" said NASA Director Sean Duffy.

For the first time, there is scientific evidence that Mars hides a solid inner core about 600 kilometers across, surrounded by a liquid core. Thus, the red planet is, in this respect, more similar to Earth than previously thought, although they have evolved very differently. The discovery was made from tests sent three years ago by NASA's InSight mission, in which Chinese and American researchers observed the behavior of Martian earthquakes between 2018 and 2022. Through comparisons with data from Earth, we can begin to decipher the evolution of Mars and how it lost its ancient magnetic field. It will also be used to analyze its thermal and chemical state.

Hypatia of Alexandria is known as the first woman scientist in history. For many students of technical careers, this astronomer, mathematician and philosopher ahead of her time is also one of the first references they know in a traditionally male world. It is no coincidence, then, that her name is the name of the first team made up exclusively of Catalan women that will travel between 16 and 29 April 2023 to the Mars Desert Research Station in the Utah desert: the Hypatia I team. The participants, nine in total, will live for two weeks in a space that simulates the extreme conditions of the red planet, confined to a very small space and deprived of the little daily luxuries, such as showering every day, to investigate the alterations of circadian rhythms or explore food productivity in hostile environments. But beyond the success of their research projects, the team is determined to plant a seed: to inspire other women, whether young or with an established career but without sufficient visibility, to exploit their scientific vocation.

Today, NASA has successfully made the first ever controlled flight over Mars. Ingenuity, a small 1.8-kg helicopter carried by Perseverance spacecraft, which landed on Mars on 19 February, completed a historic 30-second flight to successfully complete one of the main objectives of the Mars 2020 mission: to prove that it is possible to fly over the surface of Mars, a milestone that will undoubtedly improve the ability to explore the planet. The images have reached Earth four hours after the flight and confirm that the device has risen, captured images of the planet and sent them on.

Astronauts' hearts shrink. It is not a metaphor for the fright caused by the sight of the place where, as Carl Sagan said, everyone they know, everyone they have heard of, everyone they love, has lived. No. It is a real, studied, physical effect. During his 340-day stay on the International Space Station, the heart of a NASA astronaut, Scott Kelly, went from 190 to 139 grams, a reduction of 27%, as published in the Circulation journal in an article signed by cardiologist Benjamin Levine, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Mars and Earth are sister planets, born practically at the same time, 4.6 billion years ago. While to the human eye it was just a red star, Mars generated multiple stories and theories. Now that the Perseverance has landed on its surface and color photographs and samples of its parched scree are reaching us, the questions remain: If life is extinct, can it be reborn in the future? Was there a civilization that eventually disappeared? If there was life, what was it like? Can Mars serve to explain our present or envision our future? Can it be the planet where earthlings will end up moving to? Our perception of this near planet has been changing and often fiction has ended up intoxicating reality. The exhibition Marte. El espejo rojo ("Mars. The Red Mirror"), which can be visited at the CCCB until 11 July, does not offer comforting answers. "It invites us to ask ourselves questions. It is a story of stories", says Jordi Costa, head of exhibitions at the CCCB.

In the last two weeks three spacecraft have arrived on Mars: one from China, one from the United Arab Emirates and one from the United States. Mars is therefore on the media agenda. All this coincides by chance with the inauguration next Thursday, February 25, of the exhibition Mart. El mirall vermell ('Mars. The red mirror') at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB). "In fact, we've been working on this exhibition for two and a half years", explains Juan Insúa, the curator of the show. "It was scheduled to open in November, but the pandemic has delayed everything", he says, which has made the exhibition coincide with the Martian news. But Mart. The Mirall Vermell goes far beyond this chance opportunity. The sciences and the humanities need each other more and more", Insúa argues, "so this exhibition, like all the projects I do, is born from a third culture perspective".