Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Do Planets Have the Raw Ingredients for Life? The Answer is in their Stars
Finding planets that already have, or have the ingredients for intelligent life is a real challenge. It is exciting that…
Warp Drives Could Generate Gravitational Waves
Will future humans use warp drives to explore the cosmos? We're in no position to eliminate the possibility. But if…
Does the Rise of AI Explain the Great Silence in the Universe?
Artificial Intelligence is making its presence felt in thousands of different ways. It helps scientists make sense of vast troves…
Some Intelligent Civilizations Will Be Trapped on their Worlds
Evolution has produced a wondrously diverse variety of lifeforms here on Earth. It just so happens that talking primates with…
Can Alien Civilizations Detect Humanity?
One of the fascinating things about being a human in this age is that we can do more than wonder…
Breakthrough Listen Scans Entire Galaxies for Signals From Extremely Advanced Civilizations
In 1960, Dr. Frank Drake led the first Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) experiment at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory…
Since Aliens Obey the Laws of Physics, Can We Guess What They Look Like?
Since time immemorial, humans have gazed up at the stars and wondered if we’re alone in the universe. We have…
Gaia is Now Finding Planets. Could it Find Another Earth?
The ESA launched Gaia in 2013 with one overarching goal: to map more than one billion stars in the Milky…
Could We Find Aliens Terraforming Other Worlds?
The first early humans to use fire had no inkling of what it would lead to. Fire was one of…
Is Anyone Planning for Diplomacy with an Extraterrestrial Civilization?
Imagine we detect an interstellar object entering our Solar System. At first, astronomers think it's just another natural interloper like…