If we survive for another 7.59 billion years, our planet will spiral into the outer layers of the dying sun and melt away forever.
Patience can be rewarded as with this composite of the 2016 Geminids meteor shower, seen over Mt Teide volcano on the Canary Islands, off Spain.
Flickr/StarryEarth
In part two of our podcast on rebooting, we explore what would happen if humanity was wiped out, take a look at a political comeback in France, and get a taste of a revamped US institution.
Artist’s conception of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft at Bennu asteroid.
NASA/GSFC
Large asteroid hits on Earth have the potential to wipe out humanity so knowing how to detect and deflect them is vital. But we know very little about the interior make up of many asteroids.
Ceres’ Haulani Crater shows evidence of landslides from its crater rim.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
High in the mountains of Morocco, scientists have discovered something remarkable and rare: a spot that was struck by two meteorites, possibly millions of years apart.
The early Earth may have been shaped by asteroid bombardment.
Shutterstock
No one nation should be allowed to go it alone and develop a mining industry in space. It needs an international effort and Australia, with a long history in mining, can play its part.
A highlight of 2015 was the number of weird and wonderful exoplanets that were found.
NASA/JPL-Caltech