14/03/2016 Newsround

This is Newsround, coming to you live from CBBC HQ.

On the way: Find out why Devon's top dog.

And why temperature is so important to these baby turtles.

Today's a big day for space exploration, as a rocket will blast

off to try to find out more about the Red Planet,

Here's Leah with more on this mission.

The Trace Gas Orbiter will blast off from Kazakhstan as the first

of a two-part mission that will study the Mars atmosphere.

Its mission is to search for signs of life and test

equipment needed for a second flight, due to leave Earth in 2018.

The main thing the Orbiter will be looking for is methane gas.

It is this gas that could show if there

It's equipped with tools to sniff out

gases from the atmosphere, find water ice, and a camera

It also carries a small vehicle, called

Schiaparelli, that will land on the planet.

This vehicle will enter the atmosphere at over 15,000 mph,

a heat shield, parachute and thrusters will help to slow it

Schiaparelli is battery powered so will only last a few days

on the surface, but it is hoped its weather sensors and camera

will be able to get a snapshot of the Martian environment.

Scientists think the information sent back may

be able to tell us if there was ever life on Mars.

Joining me on the sofa now is Professor Tim O'Brien -

Tim, that blows my mind just seeing it, but how big is this mission? It

is important. Any mission to Mars is important. This is about finding if

there's any life on Mars, which is important. It'll be sniffing out

methane? Methane on the earth is produced by biological organisms, by

life. The question is, whether on Mars the methane BC, is that

produced by Blyth? The on Mars? -- microbes. This mission is taken off

at 9:30am. How long will it take to reach Mars? The rest of the day, we

will be on tenterhooks to see if it reaches the speed it needs to reach

Mars. We will find out tonight. It is seven months before it gets

there. Will we soon put people on Mars? Every mission to Mars, we

learn something new. It will help for people going there. It was only

20 or 30 years before we see people walking on the surface. Thank you

for coming in. Can you imagine if temperature

decided whether you were born a girl Well, that's what happens

with turtles. Experts are now worried that rising

temperatures could cause problems This team of scientists

have crossed deserts, seas and beaches to dig

for buried treasure. They've come to the Lacapede Islands

in the Kimberley, Western Australia, to find

out more about turtles and how climate change

will affect their future. We go out into the Kimberley and

collect eggs from nesting females. We then bring those eggs back

to incubate them at constant temperatures, to find out the switch

point where they switch At certain temperatures,

these eggs switch from having males For humans and other mammals,

whether you are born a boy or a girl is decided

by what genes you have. But for some reptiles,

like these little turtles, it is actually caused by how hot

or how cold the egg gets. For many turtles, if the sand

is warmer than 29 degrees, there's a good chance

they will be girls. If it is any cooler,

it will probably be boys. The problem is, temperatures

around the world are going up, and that means too many

girl turtles will be hatching. If it keeps getting

warmer, there will be more females being produced,

and over time, the males will keep dying at a greater

rate than they are So it is what we call

demographic collapse. Scientists don't believe

a population crash will happen right away, but they are concerned that

if we don't prepare for it, I don't think turtle populations

are at risk of becoming extinct any time soon, they live for a long

time, for potentially 120 years females can still be breeding,

so the changes are going to be slow, but the point here is that climate

change is very rapid compared to what turtles have

experienced in the past. Finding a solution is

vital, so with research like this, hopefully more of these

little hatchlings can look forward to a happy future, even if they do

have a few obstacles along the way. A white westie dog called Devon has

won the Crufts dog competition. Devon was named Best In Show

at the annual dog show It's the first time his breed,

a West Highland terrier, has won the top prize at Crufts

in the past 26 years. I bet Hacker and Dodge

are really jealous. That's all from me,

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