Scientist have nailed down how and when the Earth will cease to exist.

The sun will slowly expand into a red giant, pushing the Earth farther out into space, but not far enough.

Our home planet will be snagged by the sun's outer atmosphere, gradually plunging to its doom inside the fiery stellar furnace.

"The drag caused by this low-density gas is enough to cause the Earth to drift inwards, and finally to be captured and vaporized by the sun," explains astronomer Robert Smith of the University of Sussex in southern England.

Previous projections had all figured that the Earth would avoid falling into the sun, even during our star's red-giant phase.

The good news: This won't happen for another 7.6 billion years.

The bad news: Life on Earth will end long before then.

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Isn't this fascinating? I'm sure this too is President Bush's fault and the fault of the Republican Party - Right? LOL - Really now kids - the Sun is in a hot phase and so ALGORE is once again cringing in his hot mocha at this news... There truly is a SOLAR SYSTEM-WIDE HEATING GOING ON AND IT ISN'T ONLY EARTH!

What in blazes will all the Dems do when this fact finally reaches the public psyche and Global Warming is found to be a bunch of hullaballoo? LOL

CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- Earth's dusty neighbor Mars is grappling with its own form of climate change as fluctuating solar radiation is kicking up dust and winds that may be melting the planet's southern polar ice cap, scientists said Wednesday.

Researchers have been watching the changing face of Mars for years, studying slight differences in the brightness and darkness of its surface.

These changes in brightness have been generally attributed to the presence of dust, but until now their effect on wind circulation and climate has not been clear.