Extraterrestrial Life

Earth-like exoplanets might be in short supply for the Habitable Worlds Observatory

How common are Earth-like exoplanets—also called exo-Earths—and which exoplanetary systems should we target to find them? This is what a…

2 months ago

A Surprising Source of Oxygen in the Deep Sea

I have always found Mariana’s Trench fascinating, it’s like an alien world right on our doorstep. Any visitor to the…

3 months ago

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…

3 months ago

Will We Know if TRAPPIST-1e has Life?

The search for extrasolar planets is currently undergoing a seismic shift. With the deployment of the Kepler Space Telescope and…

6 months ago

What Can We Learn Flying Through the Plumes at Enceladus?

In the next decade, space agencies will expand the search for extraterrestrial life beyond Mars, where all of our astrobiology…

7 months ago

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…

1 year ago

The Most Compelling Places to Search for Life Will Look Like “Anomalies”

A new study considers how future astrobiology studies could search for life "as we don't know it" on exoplanets.

1 year ago

Fatty Acids Might Exist in Space

A team of physicists have discovered that the environment of a molecular cloud in interstellar space can support the existence…

1 year ago

Forget the Habitable Zone – We Need to Find the Computational Zone

Astronomers are currently searching for signs of life in the "habitable zones" of nearby stars, which is defined as the…

2 years ago

Why ‘Contact’ still resonates after 25 years

25 years ago, the film Contact made its theatrical debut starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey and told the story…

2 years ago