Aliens

A picture snapped by Spirit near Home Plate shows silica formations poking out of the soil, which may have been formed by microbial life.

Mysterious Martian 'Cauliflower' May Be the Latest Hint of Alien Life

Unusual silica formations spotted by a NASA rover look a lot like structures formed by microbes around geysers on Earth

This visualization, built using data from the Planck satellite, shows the swirls of the Milky Way's magnetic field. The orange region represents the galactic plane.

Where Are All the Aliens? Taking Shelter From the Universe's Radiation

Earlier life-forms across the cosmos may have faced thousands to millions of times the cosmic ray dose that we do today

The data readout of the "Wow! signal"

Was the "Wow!" Signal From Aliens or a Comet Flyby?

The 1977 blast from space is often cited as our best evidence of alien contact, but a news study suggests it may have just been comets

Since this art museum in Brazil was completed in 1996, it has put the relatively unknown city of Niterói on the map.

These UFO-Like Buildings Are a Space-Age Tourist's Dream

The future is now—follow this tour of UFO architecture found all around the world

Globular cluster 47 Tucanae

Old, Dense Star Clusters Might Be the Place to Look for Complex Alien Life

The age and density of globular star clusters could give alien life both the time and resources necessary to brew complex society

Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan at the Geneva Summit.

Reagan and Gorbachev Agreed to Pause the Cold War in Case of an Alien Invasion

The 40th President of the United States was a big science-fiction fan

Edward Snowden Thinks Alien Transmissions Might Be Hidden by Encryption

To chat with aliens, scientists might have to crack codes

Does this look infected?

Life May Have Spread Through the Galaxy Like a Plague

If alien life is distributed in a pattern that mirrors epidemics, it could be strong support for the theory of panspermia

An Internet Billionaire Just Pledged $100 Million to Search for Extraterrestrial Life

More telescope time, better equipment could help scientists figure out what’s out there

The colorful salt terraces in the Dallol region of Ethiopia are hot targets for astrobiologists seeking extreme microbial life that could resemble extraterrestrials.

This Alien Color Catalog May Help Us Spot Life on Other Planets

A digital library of reflectance spectra from microbes could be a powerful tool for spotting signs of extraterrestrials

A mosaic of Enceladus collected by Cassini showing deep fissures or sulci

A Hint That a Saturnian Moon Could Have Hydrothermal Vents—And Support Life

Grains of silica from Saturn’s magnetosphere likely came from Enceladus and may mean the moon has hydrothermal vents

An artist’s interpretation of an alien planet and its star

Planets Formed Close to Their Stars Are Named for Vulcan, the Roman God of Fire

Closer to their stars than Mercury is to the Sun, these hot worlds deserve an explanation

An artist's illustration of Kepler-444 and its five planets

These Five Earth-sized Planets Are Super Old

Kepler-444 is 11.2 billion years old and its five planets could tell us about planet formation in the early universe

Come for the Giant Rock, Stay for the UFO History

George Van Tassel believed he could communicate with aliens

An artist's rendition of Kepler, on the hunt for planets like our own.

Visit Kepler's Exoplanets—And Don't Worry About the Natives (At Least for Now)

NASA has made a set of travel posters themed to exoplanets while a nonprofit searches for life among them

Scientists observed the view down the borehole via a computer at the surface as they drilled into the Antarctic ice to reach Lake Whillans.

Thousands of Microbe Species Live in This Buried Antarctic Lake

Drilling through half a mile of ice let scientists uncover the first solid evidence of life in a subglacial lake

Without Oceans, Earth-Like Life Probably Can’t Evolve on Other Planets

It's not all about the planet's distance from its star, as researchers previously thought

The planet Kepler-22b, shown in this artwork, is the right size and distance from its star to support liquid water, and perhaps life.

The Search for Life Across the Universe

Smithsonian astrophysicist Jeremy Drake explains how the question changed from "if" life will be found elsewhere to "when" and "where"

It is time that we drop Hollywood’s humanoid view of extraterrestrials. In reality, David Aguilar says, “We are going to find bizarre adaptations.”

What Will Extraterrestrial Life Look Like?

Illustrator David Aguilar melds art and science to imagine how alien creatures might adapt to their environments

We haven't had a message from ET yet, but maybe we're not looking in the right way.

Ten Ways to Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe

If radio messages are out, try looking for asteroid mining, planetary pollutants, or alien artifacts here on Earth

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