alien life
Testing a Probe that Could Drill into an Ice World
I remember reading about an audacious mission to endeavour to drill through the surface ice of Europa, drop in a…
The SETI Ellipse Tells Us Where to Search for Extraterrestrial Civilizations
Of all the questions that remain unanswered, the question of life in the Universe is surely the one that captures…
Want to Find Life? Compare a Planet to its Neighbors
Astrobiologists have difficulty finding a single chemical that proves conclusive life on an exoplanet. A new paper suggests that studying…
JWST Might Have Imaged a Hycean World for the First Time, With a Hydrogen-Rich Atmosphere and a Deep Planet-Wide Water Ocean
Astronomers have directed JWST to examine the atmosphere of an exoplanet called K2-18 b, which orbits a cool dwarf star…
NASA is Getting Serious About the Search for Life in the Universe
Frameworks are a valuable tool in science. They give context to sometimes abstract concepts such as “how powerful can an…
How Much Life Would Be Required to Create the Phosphine Signal on Venus?
A Biosignature Last week, an incredible announcement was made about the search for extraterrestrial life: Phosphine gas detected in the…
Galaxies Like the Milky Way are the Best for Life
A new study indicates that, contrary to what has been previously argued, galaxies like our own may be the most…
What About a Mission to Titan?
Europa is fine and all, but where we really need to go is Saturn's moon Titan. Let's look at some…
What Did Cassini Teach Us?
In just a few months, NASA's Cassini spacecraft is going to die, crashing into the planet Saturn. Let's look back…
Is There Life on Mars?
You know what would be exciting? Finding life on Mars. What is the best evidence we’ve seen for life on…