Astronomers Rename Famous Exoplanets
More than 30 worlds have new names drawn from world mythology, literature and history
Extraterrestrial Life416 articles archived since 1845
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?
Astronomers Skeptical Over "Planet X" Claims
Two controversial new studies suggest the discovery of large objects at the outer reaches of the solar system
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
A Tale of 2 Habitable Planets
New study explores how life on one exoplanet could spread to its neighbor
Earth as an Alien World
Remote sensing can produce spectacular, and wholly alien, views of our homeworld.
Graphic: A World of Exoplanet Discoveries
What we know about alien worlds—and what’s coming next
500-Million-Year-Old Brains and Life in the Universe
A new study provides substantial support for earlier claims of 520-million-year-old arthropod brain systems, raising interesting questions about the nature of brains, life and intelligence in the cosmos...
Early Origins for Life Raises Major Planetary Puzzles
A recent claim for evidence of life on Earth as early as 4.1 billion years ago runs headlong into prevailing theories about a period of heavy asteroid impacts and the reshuffling of the young solar system's orbital architecture...
Human Missions to Mars Will Look Completely Different from The Martian
The blockbuster film’s futuristic vision of interplanetary exploration could soon be out of date
How Our View of Mars Has Changed from Lush Oasis to Arid Desert
Once thought of as a lush alien world teeming with life and later dismissed as an arid, desolate orb, the Red Planet’s salty, liquid water just might aid in the search for extraterrestrial life...
Water Flows on Mars Today, NASA Announces
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter found evidence that flowing water causes suspicious dark streaks on the Red Planet
Searching for Life in Martian Water Will Be Very, Very Tricky
The risk of microbial contamination could prevent humans and even robots from visiting the most promising parts of the Red Planet
Cassini Confirms a Global Ocean on Saturn's Moon Enceladus
Ever since 2005, when NASA’s Cassini orbiter found plumes of water vapor spilling out of cracks in the south pole of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus, researchers have sought to learn more about the moon’s mysterious interior as a possible abode for extraterrestrial life...
![Philae's Real-Time Descent and Enceladus's Global Ocean [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/blogs/cache/file/01948C21-AA2B-41CF-B412B82012DDDD4E_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
Philae's Real-Time Descent and Enceladus's Global Ocean [Video]
This week brings a video reconstructed from images of the Philae lander's approach to a comet, and a major new analysis of data from the Cassini mission that bolsters the case for a global, not just local, ocean beneath the icy crust of Enceladus...
Having an Existential Crisis? It Could be Worse, and Weirder
Living on a small planet in a big universe exposes us to all manner of existential problems, but what are the worst, and what are the weirdest?
Archimedes, 3 Trillion Trees and Life in the Universe
A new estimate of Earth's total tree population shows previous estimates were seven times too low, and there are implications for efforts to understand the nature of life here and elsewhere in the universe...
Alien Transit Systems May Be a Giveaway in the Search for ET
A Harvard professor devises a scheme to detect extraterrestrials by tracking how they might commute from one world to the next
3 Years into Its Mission, Curiosity's Stunning Martian Panorama
NASA's Curiosity rover provides a beautiful, scientifically appetizing view of what's ahead on Mount Sharp on Mars
To Play or Not to Play the Exoplanet Name Game?
Campaigns to name exoplanets seem like Shakespearean farce
