Caleb Scharf

On the red planet, existential threats abound.

Life on Earth is a sketchy guide to intelligent life in the cosmos.

Any assumptions about properties like intelligence or agency that we make based on what we currently know about life on Earth are on exceedingly shaky ground.Photograph by European Southern Observatory (ESO) / Wikicommons Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . You might imagine that in the midst of a global […]

Does the data we produce serve us, or vice versa?

Being a scientist can be like willingly entering into a Roman gladiatorial contest. The hours are long, there’s a rank smell of indentured servitude, and at any minute your colleagues may attempt to eviscerate you for the pleasure of the crowds. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . A lot […]

Meet the inspiring people—none named Einstein—who helped these scientists find their calling.

Alien life could be so advanced it becomes indistinguishable from physics.

Our own oasis of life in the cosmos is blue, but will others be?

It’s true that we haven’t seen alien life, but neither have we seen much of the universe.

Knowledge about aliens might be as dangerous as the aliens themselves.