Extraterrestrial Life

Even a galaxy teeming with star-hopping alien civilizations should still harbor isolated, unvisited worlds—and Earth might be among them

The first interstellar object ever found provides an excellent test of the scientific process

Untangling the origins of organisms will require experiments at the tiniest scales and observations at the vastest

For most life in the universe, oxygen might be a deadly poison. Surprisingly, that might make such creatures easier for astrobiologists to find

More than 30 worlds have new names drawn from world mythology, literature and history

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?

Two controversial new studies suggest the discovery of large objects at the outer reaches of the solar system

New findings reveal a crater’s vaporous hazes, and hint at the dwarf planet’s possible origin in the outer solar system

New study explores how life on one exoplanet could spread to its neighbor

Remote sensing can produce spectacular, and wholly alien, views of our homeworld.

What we know about alien worlds—and what’s coming next

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