Tales of alien abduction and SETI's extrasolar search for intelligent life may fuel the imagination, but astrobiologists know that the first proof that we are not alone is likely to be found in our own solar system. And rather than being a bug-eyed humanoid, E.T. will probably resemble the extremophile microbes living here on Earth.
Kate Schrock has been an editor of Scientific American MIND since 2007, where she edits feature articles and runs Head Lines, the magazine's news department. After studying astronomy and physics at the University of Southern California, she worked in the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging at the University of California, Los Angeles, studying the brain structure of people with schizophrenia. She then enrolled in the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting program at New York University, where she earned a master's degree in journalism.
