Briefs

More than three cheers are due to Friends of the Earth, which refuses to let the Newbury bypass debate die down. This is the Good Little Runner designed by Paul Williams, a mini bought at a scrapyard and fitted with ‘legs’ made out of scrap metal, Fibreglass and car inner tubes.

It accompanied a Volvo wrapped by Christo and Jeanne Claude at Art Bypass, a mile-long evening exhibition held last weekend and organised by Friends of the Earth. Nevertheless, the Highways Agency is poised to start construction of the second stage of the dreaded bypass any minute now.

This is Dr Robert Hutchison, head of the cosmic mineralogy division at the Natural History Museum. You can tell by the long white beard that he’s not faking it. He’s examining a fragment of a Martian meteorite catchily named ALH 84001, which will be on display at the museum’s new Earth Galleries in an exhibition called Life on Mars, running until 14 October. It was organised at top speed in response to the recent discovery of possible fossil life on Mars and was designed in-house.