A team from St Andrews University is testing equipment in Lower Diabaig, Torridon, where there are rocks believed to be billions of years old and similar to those found on Mars.
The work forms part of the ExoMars programme which aims to land a robotic rover on Mars to study its geology and to look for fossils and minerals.
The target launch of the rover is in 2028 and the mission is tackling the question of whether life has ever existed on Mars. The rare geology round Lower Diabaig is said to be ideal as a testbed with billion year old mudstone and other rocks which are stacked one on top of the other in layers.
Several parts of Mars have Scottish names including Torridon, Glenelg, Muck Wick and Holyrood.
Mounting pressures from inflation, increasing costs and demand are exceeding the Scottish Government’s additional investment in Scotland’s councils.
In 2025/26 councils received over £15 billion pounds in government funding but the Accounts Commission reports that additional costs mean councils must cover a budget shortfall of £647 million in 2025/26.
Whilst councils have partly met this shortfall through service savings and increased charges for services, continuing to use reserves and make one-off savings is not sustainable so longer term change must accelerate and Councils remain heavily reliant on borrowing to fund capital investment in 2025/26.
A member of the Accounts Commission said that councils need to work with communities to make difficult decisions on what services can be delivered and with major changes in how they are delivered.
A highly unusual sea creature has been spotted in Loch Broom this week. Recorded only 20 or 30 times in UK waters, a beluga whale was seen originally half rising vertically from the water, but later in other clips too.
The sighting has been verified by a representative of Shetland Wildlife and British Divers Marine Life Rescue has been informed. A spokesperson confirmed they are monitoring the situation but they cannot say if it is the same whale which was seen in Shetland last year.The last time a beluga whale was seen off the west coast was 20 years ago off Applecross and people are being asked to stay away from the area to avoid unnecessary disturbance to the animal.
