The discovery of ‘leopard spots’ on Mars is without a doubt the most promising sign of extraterrestrial life we have found in our solar system.
As a planetary geology student researching Martian biosignatures, I am cautiously optimistic. But without further analysis of these rocks, we cannot be definitive.
What is clear is that without the necessary funds to retrieve them, the samples of the Jezero crater mudstone remain trapped in limbo.
Trump’s proposed budget for 2026 will gut any opportunity for their retrieval within the next decade, as he’s slashing NASA’s funding by 24 percent and its workforce by nearly a third.
This situation in the United States is by no means unique. Last year, Germany, Italy, and the UK all significantly cut their contributions to the European Space Agency, leading to a massive reduction in its budget.
A common refrain from the capitalist press is to question the necessity of research like this. Space missions are constantly called a frivolous waste of money compared to more humanitarian goals, like ending world hunger or housing the homeless.
Yet the money isn’t being used on that. The same people behind starving the sciences are those behind attacks on the working class, migrants, the homeless – all the while funding the rearmament of Europe and the genocide in Gaza.
Space exploration is frivolous, they say. But billions being squandered on military research? Totally worthwhile!
The capitalist drive for profit is killing ‘unprofitable’ science, even if it could answer such profound philosophical questions like “is humanity alone in the universe?”.
Under a socialist, planned economy, we could reach new heights of research and discovery, all while providing for every single person on the planet. The future of science can only be safeguarded in the hands of the working class.
To find life on Mars, we must fight to make Earth a red planet too!
Robin Banks, Birmingham
Khan’s liberal platitudes fall short
On 13 September, London saw one of the largest far-right demonstrations in recent memory: ‘Unite the Kingdom’, organised by Tommy Robinson.
Four days later, London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s answer was a glossy video montage on social media: smiling children, scenes of diversity, and a spoken-word poem about “hope” and “community”.
In London, hate will never win. pic.twitter.com/Lm424D4SeR
— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) September 17, 2025
This response speaks volumes, but not in the way Khan hopes. While working-class Londoners face soaring rents, collapsing NHS services, and stagnant wages, the Mayor of London offers soft music and liberal platitudes.
The problems tearing at the fabric of our communities are not “hate” in the abstract, but the concrete reality of capitalism: unaffordable housing, schools starved of funds, public services gutted, and a handful of billionaires growing rich while the rest of us struggle to survive.
Labour, whether at City Hall or in Westminster, has no solution to these crises because it has no intention of challenging the system that causes them.
Instead, they echo the language of the likes of Nigel Farage and Reform on immigration, policing, and “national security,” while dressing it up with the feel-good rhetoric of “diversity”, “tolerance”, and so-called “progressive patriotism”.
This only deepens disillusionment with an already unpopular government, allowing reactionaries like Tommy Robinson to posture as the only ones ‘speaking plainly’ about the anger in working-class communities.
Londoners deserve better than hollow PR campaigns where Labour pretends to stand for something.
The far right will not be defeated with hashtags or sentimental videos. They will be defeated by tackling the real roots of despair: confronting the landlords bleeding us dry, the bosses holding down our wages, and the politicians who serve the billionaires.
The choice is clear: we either remain demoralised and divided while the far right grows, or we unite as a class to fight for housing, healthcare, and a future worth living in.
Perry Robert, Bermondsey
Graduate visa hypocrisy
I graduated with a master’s degree in sports coaching this year. As of today I have spent eight months trying to find a job. I have applied to more than 500 jobs in this time span, with ten interviews and one offer of employment.
I hoped to find a job in teaching, as it was the only job I was feasibly qualified for after graduation that could pay me enough to qualify for the outrageous work visa salary requirements: £33,700 for UK international graduates, and £41,700 as a general requirement.
I’ve interviewed for entry-level sports coaching positions that have the potential to lead to qualified teaching. I have been the youngest candidate by an average of ten years, and in all of my rejections the main reason has been lack of experience.
The other candidates applying for an entry-level role have been laid off from their previous jobs, or are seeking a change in career for better job prospects. Cash-strapped schools have made the obvious choice: pay an entry-level salary to an experienced candidate.
On the week I was finally starting the job I was able to land, they had to rescind my offer of employment, as the contract I was to be given was longer than the time I had on my visa.
I spent eight months finding this job. This entire year I’ve had less than £200 a month to spend after paying rent. I cannot do anything else except apply for jobs, everything else is too expensive. I even had to go to the hospital because of stress induced breathing troubles.
I’m more ready today than I ever was to fight back. My health and wellbeing is at stake. I am tired of the endless hunt for a job just so I can live.
I have been a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party for three years now. Just by living in this completely backwards and hellish system, I find more reasons to struggle every single day. My purpose now, tomorrow, and until we finally get rid of capitalism, is to organise and fight.
Alex Gabriel, Leeds
