Space & Physics
First Earth-Size Planet That Could Support Life Found
NASA's Kepler space telescope has identified a planet that is both similar in size to Earth and within the habitable zone of its sun
Extraterrestrial Life471 articles archived since 1845
Space & Physics
Liquid Ocean Sloshes under Saturn Moon’s Icy Crust, Cassini Evidence Shows
The new evidence of liquid water on Enceladus raises hopes that the moon could host extraterrestrial life
Biology
The Unstoppable Extinction And Fermi’s Paradox
There has been a lot of discussion recently about the evidence that we are currently within a period of mass extinction, the kind of event that will show up in the fossil record a few million years from now as a clear discontinuity, a radical change in the diversity of life on the planet...
Space & Physics
Europa’s Water Geysers Entice Scientists to Send a Probe—but Can NASA Do It on the Cheap?
The agency wants to send a robotic mission to Jupiter's enigmatic moon for less than $1 billion. Supporters say that one of the solar system’s most promising places to find life deserves a bigger investment
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Space & Physics
Found in Space, Part 2
Journalist Lee Billings Talks about his book Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search For Life Among the Stars, Part 2 of 2
Space & Physics
Found in Space, Part 1
Journalist Lee Billings Talks about his book Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search For Life Among the Stars, Part 1 of 2
Space & Physics
Hundreds of New Exoplanets Validated by Kepler Telescope Team
A trove of 715 planets—all members of multiworld systems—joins the list of Kepler's finds
The Sciences
From Gadgets to Galaxies: Conference Reports
Scientific American technology editor Seth Fletcher talks about the recent Consumer Electronics Show and astronomy editor Clara Moskowitz discusses last month's American Astronomical Society conference
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Space & Physics
Faraway Planets May Be Far Better for Life
Astronomers have come up with a shopping list of what a planet needs to support life, perhaps even better than our Earth does, making them "superhabitable." Michael Moyer reports
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Space & Physics
Massive Asteroid Spurts Plumes of Water Vapor
The origin of Ceres' intermittent plumes is unclear
Space & Physics
A Wish List of Future Space Missions
NASA's long-term vision, released by the agency's astrophysics division, restates its broad and popular themes for scientists to pursue including "Are We Alone?" and "How Did We Get Here?"...
Space & Physics
First Exomoon Possibly Glimpsed
Astronomers may have discovered a moon orbiting an alien planet, but the signal is far from definitive
Chemistry
New Signs of Water on Mars Ramp Up Search for Life
An ancient lake and evidence for flowing water today aid hopes that microbes evolved on the Red Planet
Space & Physics
New Bacterial Life-Form Discovered in NASA and ESA Spacecraft Clean Rooms
The previously unknown microbe was tough enough to survive stringent sterilization at two locations. Might it survive a trip to Mars?
Space & Physics
NASA Probe to Track Mars’s Missing Atmosphere
Where did the Red Planet’s carbon dioxide blanket and liquid surface water go? NASA’s Maven mission will launch next week to investigate
Space & Physics
Kepler Telescope Finds Plethora of Earth-Sized Planets
NASA’s premier planet-hunting scope turns up 647 possible Earth-sized worlds in the Milky Way
Space & Physics
Pulverized Asteroid around Distant Star Was Full of Water
The first discovery of a rocky, watery object beyond our solar system shows how planets might get their oceans
Space & Physics
Five Billion Years of Solitude: Looking for Longevity [Excerpt]
In this excerpt from Five Billion Years of Solitude author Lee Billings chronicles the pioneering scientists who have led the hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence in their quest to answer the haunting question: Is humanity alone in the universe?...
Space & Physics
Cache and Not Carry: Next Mars Rover to Collect Samples for Return to Earth—Someday
NASA calls for rover instrument proposals, but some resent the space lost to storage of samples for retrieval by an unspecified future mission
Space & Physics
Kepler Exoplanet Hunter Limps Into Sunset
Although the Kepler space telescope's stabilization system is beyond repair, it has produced reams of data that have yet to be fully searched for exoplanets. John Matson reports.
