Search for Life
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The great silence: Just 4 in 10,000 galaxies may host intelligent aliens
By Keith Cooper published
Without plate tectonics, oceans and continents, complex life that is able to invent and master advanced technology might never evolve.
If alien terraforming emits greenhouse gases, our telescopes could detect it
By Sharmila Kuthunur published
A new thought experiment reveals how greenhouse gases can be used as a technosignature in the hunt for aliens.
Area 51: What is it and what goes on there?
By Robert Lea last updated
Reference Area 51 is a U.S. military base that has become synonymous with tales of UFOs, government cover-ups and potentially testing alien technology.
If alien life exists on Europa, we may find it in hydrothermal vents
By Keith Cooper published
Cool to moderately warm hydrothermal vents circulating water through the seabed could sustain habitable conditions on moons such as Jupiter's Europa and Saturn's Enceladus for billions of years.
Life after stellar death? How life could arise on planets orbiting white dwarfs
By Keith Cooper published
Stellar death need not be the end for orbiting planets, which could see their ice melt as they move closer to the white dwarf that their star evolves into.
Private Odysseus moon lander reveals which Earth 'technosignatures' aliens might see
By Sharmila Kuthunur published
By looking at Earth as an exoplanet, astronomers hope to search for similar fingerprints coming from planets around other stars, which would be a potential sign of intelligent life.
AI may be to blame for our failure to make contact with alien civilizations
By Michael Garrett published
The rise of AI might explain why the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has yet to detect the signatures of advanced technical civilizations elsewhere in the galaxy.
'I don't see any evidence of aliens.' SpaceX's Elon Musk says Starlink satellites have never dodged UFOs
By Brett Tingley published
Elon Musk isn't convinced that aliens have ever visited Earth, according to remarks the SpaceX CEO and founder made during a conference on Tuesday (May 7).
Could alien life be hiding in the rings of Saturn or Jupiter?
By Rahul Rao published
The rings that circle gas giants like Saturn are composed mostly of water-ice particles. Could life exist in these beautiful and enigmatic structures?
NASA's mission to an ice-covered moon will contain a message between water worlds
By Douglas Vakoch published
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft, headed to Jupiter’s ice-covered moon Europa in October 2024, will carry a laser-etched message that celebrates humanity’s connection to water.
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