Dear members — today’s story takes you to meet one Dr Aled Roberts. Aled, who works as a research fellow at the University of Manchester, made headlines last autumn for his work on how bodily fluids could be used as part of building materials for the construction of future colonies on Mars. Yes, you read that correctly.

A lesser editor might describe our writer Jack Walton’s story on the same as “out of this world” but we are made of sterner stuff and refuse to succumb to this temptation. Suffice it to say, it’s an excellent piece and well worth reading — though possibly not while you’re eating.