Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has landed robotic explorers on the surface of Mars, sent probes to outer planets and operates a worldwide network of antennae that communicates with interplanetary spacecraft.

Scientists at a large annual gathering rallied in support of evolution, speaking out against what they call an assault on science from religious conservatives.

A US school district went to court today to defend its policy of telling students that a higher power may have created life – an alternative to the evolution theory they are already learning.