Perseverance

A crystal-clear lake in southeastern Turkey could shed light on "exciting" scientific research involving Mars, a senior official said on Feb. 18. 

After seven months of travel, NASA's rover Perseverance is preparing to land on Mars on Thursday, which will be the start of a years-long search for evidence of ancient microbiological life on the Red Planet.

The Mars 2020 mission, launched in late July from Florida, includes the largest vehicle ever sent there.

When the great Greek crisis broke in 2010, some of us entertained the hope that the fire - eternal metaphor of destruction - would wake us up, that it would prompt us to take a long, good look at ourselves, to decide who we are and what we want as a nation. Would the flames burn away the chaff that kept Greece tied to self-destructive behaviors?