Aliens
25 articles-
A Wrinkle in Nature Could Lead to Alien Life
There may be more than one way to tune a universe for life. -
The Alien-Haunted World
Are space scientists too conservative and close-minded about the possibility that ET exists? -
The Trouble with Counting Alien Civilizations
Life on Earth is a sketchy guide to intelligent life in the cosmos. -
Life on Earth Is a Sketchy Guide to an Alien Civilization
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 […] -
What Are the Odds of Alien Contact?
Bringing the Drake Equation up to date.
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Life on Mars, from Viking to Curiosity
A brief history of the scientific debate swirling around the Red Planet.
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Why We’ll Have Evidence of Aliens—If They Exist—By 2035
The search for alien technology is about to get much more efficient. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . I’ve bet a cup of coffee to any and all that by 2035 we’ll have evidence of E.T. To many of my colleagues, that sounds like a losing proposition. For more […]
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What Donald Trump Teaches Us About the Fermi Paradox
The “signal leakage” of our communications is becoming more and more scarce, not more abundant.Illustration by Danielle Futselaar / Flickr Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . Reports of U.F.O. sightings were commonplace in the 1950s. The C.I.A. recently came clean, on Twitter, concerning its role: “Reports of unusual activity […]
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Listening for Extraterrestrial Blah Blah
At the cosmic dinner party, intelligence is the loudest thing in the room. -
The Romantic Venus We Never Knew
Venus used to be as fit for life as Earth. -
How Will Our Religions Handle the Discovery of Alien Life?
What would your priest, rabbi, or imam say if we discovered alien life? Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . For the religious, knowing that life on Earth is not unique may demand radical new ways of thinking about ourselves: How special and sacred are we? Is Earth a privileged […] -
Is Physical Law an Alien Intelligence?
Alien life could be so advanced it becomes indistinguishable from physics. -
The Scientist Who Helped Amy Adams Talk to Aliens in “Arrival”
Earlier this year, when Amy Adams was in Montreal working on the sci-fi movie, Arrival, out today, she hung out with linguist Jessica Coon. In the film, Adams plays a linguist tasked by the United States government with deciphering a visiting aliens’ language. The film’s producers tapped Coon, an associate professor in the Department of Linguistics […]