Science continues to shift the boundaries of what we think we know and 2016 will be no exception. Sarah Wild highlights the fields to keep an eye on.

Kobus Vermeulen has spent his life dreaming of adventure – and now the Red Planet is calling.

Four South Africans are among the 100 hopefuls who have made it through to round three of the Mars One human settlement mission.

The launch to Mars is still a decade away but preparations for the Red Planet expedition are well under way.

Mars is currently the only known planet inhabited solely by robots, but that will change when a TV project establishes a human colony on its surface.

The countdown for a one-way trip to the Red Planet has begun and several South Africans want to go.

Florence Porcel, a Frenchwoman living in Paris, would give anything to live on Mars, saying she has always felt "a bit cramped on Earth".

Ten years from now you, yes you, could be one of two men and two women touching down on the surface of Mars, ensuring your place in the history books.

At least 35 000 applications have been received for the Mars One project and five were from South Africa, according to its website.