extraterrestrial life
If We Believe in Dark Matter, Why Not Extraterrestrial Life?
Avi Loeb has a lot of thoughts about aliens and scientific prejudice.
Forget “Earth-Like”—We’ll First Find Aliens on Eyeball Planets
Artist’s conception of a hot Eyeball planet. The permanent day side is sun-baked and dry. The permanent night side is covered with ice. In between lies a thin habitat: the ring of life.Illustration by Beau.TheConsortium Imagine a habitable planet orbiting a distant star. You’re probably picturing a variation of Earth. Maybe it’s a little cloudier, […]
Dolphins Are Helping Us Hunt for Aliens
SETI Institute astronomer Laurance Doyle proposed using information theory to analyze animal communication systems, particularly the whistle repertoire of bottlenose dolphins.Illustration by Victor Habbick Visions When 12 men gathered at the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia to discuss the art and science of alien hunting in 1961, the Order of the Dolphin was born. […]
The Romantic Venus We Never Knew
Venus used to be as fit for life as Earth.
Is Physical Law an Alien Intelligence?
Alien life could be so advanced it becomes indistinguishable from physics.
The Surprising Importance of Stratospheric Life
The science of bacteria in the atmosphere is getting its moment in the sun.
Spark of Science: Chiara Mingarelli
How stars and UFOs set one astrophysicist on her path.
Why Alien Life Will Be Robotic
If life off Earth exists it has probably transitioned to machine intelligence.
Is Life Special Just Because It’s Rare?
Vitalism in the age of modern science.
Life Beyond the Pale Blue Dot
Our own oasis of life in the cosmos is blue, but will others be?
