When a scientific controversy or breakthrough dominates headlines, press officers and journalists often quote a handful of ...

In an astronomical first, researchers have measured the magnetic fields of 7 "hot Jupiter" planets beyond our solar system — ...

A new survey of hundreds of astrobiologists reveals that, despite NASA's high-profile declarations about Mars and exoplanet ...

To support alien life, a planet doesn’t have to be exactly like Earth, but it does need a few key ingredients. First, it should orbit its star at the right distance, where temperatures allow liquid ...

Scientists are listening in on sperm whale conversations and studying Earth's strangest microbes to prepare humanity for ...

From lava tubes on Mars to ice pockets on Europa, subterranean environments may offer the best chance of finding life—and living safely—beyond our planet. “I was like, ‘OK, I'm pretty sure that ...

If we're to find extraterrestrial life in the universe, astronomers have pinpointed the best places to look for it. They have identified just under 50 rocky worlds most likely to be habitable out of ...

Suppose there are signs of extraterrestrial life and we have not yet been able to detect them. What does that mean? In Nature Astronomy, researchers discuss the consequences of these so-called ...

They’ve obscured alien worlds from us for years, but clouds could turn out to be where the first hints of extraterrestrial ...

Do aliens exist? Could Earth really be the only planet hosting intelligent life? Debates over the existence of extraterrestrials date back to the earliest Indigenous and western thought. The tools ...

Astrobiologists warn that NASA's current instruments may miss subtle signs of alien life, risking 'false negatives' in the ...