Viki

• NASA commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Viking I landing, a milestone mission that fundamentally transformed the scientific search for extraterrestrial life on Mars. • Alongside Viking II, these missions provided the first successful long-term operations on the Martian surface and conducted critical biological experiments to detect organic compounds. • The legacy of the Viking program continues to influence modern research, including recent studies in Communications Earth & Environment regarding perchlorate brine formation at the Viking 2 site.

Swedish nonprofit alleges cost to repair replica was $6,000 but Universal – which made $264m on film’s opening weekend – has not stumped upThe Swedish owners of a Viking longship replica that features in the Hollywood blockbuster The Odyssey say they feel “forgotten” after film-makers allegedly returned the vessel damaged and failed to foot the bill for repairs.In nearly three decades at sea, the warship Glad av Gillberga – based on a wreck from around 1040 found in Denmark’s Roskilde fjord – has successfully sailed the North Sea, the Baltic and even voyaged to Canada. Continue reading...

• Fifty years after the NASA Viking 1 lander touched down on Mars, scientists continue to debate whether the mission discovered evidence of extraterrestrial life. • A recent analysis suggests that Viking 1 likely found autotrophic microbial life, estimating a density of approximately 1,000 cells per gram of soil. • The debate persists because the original results were ambiguous, leaving the scientific community divided on whether the findings were biological or chemical in nature.

The people of Bryne are proud of local hero’s rise to the top of world football as Norway prepare to face EnglandSurrounded by red hats, No 9 shirts and Erling Haaland action toys at her fabric shop in the small Norwegian town of Bryne, Olinda Haaland – no relation but proud to share the now world-famous name – said everybody in the striker’s home town was a football fan these days.“It’s been pure joy,” she said of her namesake’s rise to the top of world football. “We all love him so much and he’s doing so much for Bryne.” Continue reading...

From Times Square to the Norwegian parliament and even in fighter jet cockpits, the choreographed row is everywhereThe fans have done it, in their thousands, in the stadiums. The players have done it on the pitch. Pretty much anyone who was there did it in New York’s Times Square. Norwegian MPs did it in parliament.Prince Sverre Magnus, third in line to the Norwegian throne, rowed in an Oslo subway carriage. Care home residents in their 90s rowed in rural Norway and Norwegian Royal Air Force pilots rowed in their F-35 fighter jets. Continue reading...

• The 2026 FIFA World Cup continues this Saturday with four scheduled matches, including high-profile clashes between the Netherlands and Sweden in Houston and Germany and Ivory Coast in Toronto. • In a display of fan passion, Norway supporters have established a "Viking Row" takeover in New York City's Times Square to support their team. • The tournament's first week has triggered record-breaking betting activity at U.S. sportsbooks, signaling massive commercial interest in the event.

The Manchester City striker will feature in Viqueens, an animated film by director Harald Zwart, who described him as ‘powerful, fearless and uniquely Norwegian’Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is to make his feature acting debut, in an animated film as the voice of a Viking – called Haaland.According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Norwegian international is to play “an animated version of himself” in Viqueens, directed and co-written by Harald Zwart, the Dutch-Norwegian director of The Karate Kid and Agent Cody Banks. Continue reading...