Extraterrestrial Life
Life Is Complicated—Literally, Astrobiologists Say
A new theory suggests that searches for molecular complexity could uncover convincing evidence of extraterrestrial life—and do so soon
Extraterrestrial Life429 articles archived since 1845
Extraterrestrial Life
How Scientists Could Tell the World if They Find Alien Life
Sparked by major advances in their field, astrobiologists are grappling with how best to discuss possible breakthrough discoveries with the public
Extraterrestrial Life
A Mysterious ‘Alien Beacon’ Was Actually a False Alarm
The radio signal seemed to originate from the star Proxima Centauri and provided a helpful drill for future searches
Extraterrestrial Life
Microbes, Natural Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence
Humanity’s greatest achievement might be building our successors
Extraterrestrial Life
How to Search for Life as We Don’t Know It
Much of astrobiology is focused on looking for organisms with chemistry similar to ours—but there could well be other kinds
Extraterrestrial Life
Astronomers Should Be Willing to Look Closer at Weird Objects in the Sky
The Galileo Project seeks to train telescopes on unidentified aerial phenomena
Extraterrestrial Life
Note to Branson and Bezos: Extraterrestrials Will Not Be Impressed
If they exist, they’ll find our puny forays into space completely insignificant
Extraterrestrial Life
Looking for Interstellar Monuments
An ancient civilization from a distant star could have created immortal machines to roam the Milky Way and keep its legacy alive
Extraterrestrial Life
To Look or Not to Look? That Is the Question
The search for technological relics of extraterrestrial civilizations will inspire the public and attract talent to the field of astronomy
Extraterrestrial Life
When Will We Hear from Extraterrestrials?
Project Galileo could make that happen sooner rather than later
Planetary Science
Crumbly Mars Rock, Not Hardware Flaws, Scuttled Perseverance’s First Sample Attempt
After an alarming failure, the rover is set to continue its mission to retrieve specimens for eventual return to Earth
Extraterrestrial Life
Martian Crust Could Sustain Life through Radiation
Meteorites reveal that so long as groundwater is present, the Martian subsurface is habitable
Extraterrestrial Life
Future Space Travel Might Require Mushrooms
Mycologist Paul Stamets discusses the potential extraterrestrial uses of fungi, including terraforming planets, building human habitats—and providing psilocybin therapy to astronauts...
Extraterrestrial Life
To Understand UAP, We Need Megapixel Imagery
If any of them represent advanced technology, high-resolution photographs might tell us whether they’re metaphorically labeled “Made in China” or “Made on Exoplanet X”...
Extraterrestrial Life
Harvard’s Avi Loeb Thinks We Should Study UFOs—and He’s Not Wrong
As a SETI scientist, I’m grateful that he has the freedom—and the guts—to go where few would dare to go
Extraterrestrial Life
Announcing a New Plan for Solving the Mystery of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
The newly organized Galileo Project will use a three-pronged approach to replace unreliable eyewitness reports with reproducible scientific observations
Astronomers Rename Famous Exoplanets
More than 30 worlds have new names drawn from world mythology, literature and history
The Sciences
Do We Live in a Star Wars Universe?
Tis the season for science fiction fun, but could we even tell if the universe around us was filled with galactic empires and rebel forces?
The Sciences
Astronomers Skeptical Over "Planet X" Claims
Two controversial new studies suggest the discovery of large objects at the outer reaches of the solar system
The Sciences
Ceres Is Cloudy, with a Chance of Cryovolcanoes
New findings reveal a crater’s vaporous hazes, and hint at the dwarf planet’s possible origin in the outer solar system
