Star Trek fans are very familiar with the command "Shields up!" In the not so distant future, astronauts may be hearing the command on real spacecraft. Scientists working at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, near Oxford, are working to create a force field that will be similar to the protective shield used on Captain Kirk's starship Enterprise. The radiation shield will mimic the deflection properties of the Earth's magnetic field to protect astronauts on a mission to Mars. The idea is to guard against dangerous space radiation that could increase the risk of cancer and cognitive problems, the New Scientist reports. Read more about it here. (Illustration Ruth Bamford et al/Rutherford Appleton Laboratory)
