exoplanets
Why This Astronomer Thinks We're on the Cusp of Finding Signs of Alien Life
Lisa Kaltenegger, director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell, talks exoplanets, telescopes, and first contact.
Scientists Just Found a New Way to Search for Habitable Exoplanets
Worlds orbiting small red dwarf stars might be less vulnerable to damaging space weather, which could boost the odds that they host life.
Scientists Have Identified 24 Possible 'Superhabitable' Planets
"We are so focused on finding a mirror image of Earth that we may overlook a planet that is even more well suited for life,” said the lead author of a new study.
NASA Needs Your Help Hunting Exoplanets in the Search for Alien Life
At a time when many people are stuck at home, Planet Patrol provides a “community pursuing the common goal of understanding the universe and our place in it,” according to the project leader.
A Weird Chemical on Venus Hints at Possible ‘Presence of Life,’ Study Says
The detection of phosphine is “not robust evidence for life” on Venus, scientists say, but a biological origin for the signature has not been ruled out yet.
This Is the First Image of Planets Orbiting a Sun-Like Star in Deep Space
An international team of astronomers snapped this photo of a young star and its two gigantic planets from a distance of 300 light years.
Scientists Prepare to Search for Aliens Orbiting Dead Stars
“The next intriguing question would be whether life survived the star’s death or started all over again—a second genesis.”
Scientists Thought They Discovered a New Planet, Then It Disappeared
What looked like a Jupiter-sized planet a decade ago was actually the fallout of a cataclysmic space crash.
Nearly All Animal Life Evolved From This Gross Worm Creature, Including Us
Some 555 million years ago, this worm-like animal with a mouth and butt tunneled through the seafloor, originating the body plan that gave rise to humans and most other animals.
Heavy Metal Rains From the Sky of this Exoplanet
WASP-76b, located 640 light years away, is so absurdly hot that iron vapor condenses into rainstorms on its nightside.
The Next Generation of Super-Sensitive Alien Hunting Telescopes Is Coming
Scientists are building enormous new radio arrays capable of hearing leaks from alien broadcasts, if they exist.
NASA’s New Exoplanet Hunter Discovers Its First Planet Orbiting Two Stars
The TESS spacecraft spotted its first Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of a star, as well as its first circumbinary planet detection.