Extraterrestrial Life

We need less uproar over everyday drones and more critical attention about ones near airports and other restricted airspace

Material from asteroid Ryugu riddled with earthly microbes provides a cautionary tale for scientists seeking signs of alien life

Odds are that we’re not truly alone in the cosmos. But practically speaking, we might as well be

In 1974 we beamed a radio transmission into space that changed the way we think about our place in the cosmos

On the 50th anniversary of the “Arecibo message,” we present a reflection on humankind’s first attempt to send a transmission to intelligent life in the cosmos.

For the first time, we are sending a spacecraft to explore an alien ocean world—a moon that might host life today

An office in the Pentagon investigated UFOs—and the paranormal—over a decade ago, segueing into a long saga leading to Congressional hearings and breathless news stories today. But the real story looks more like former defense officials pushing their personal mythology, rather than any cover-up of aliens

We can’t yet tell how life got its start on Earth. That’s one great reason to keep looking for life elsewhere

The search for extraterrestrial life has profound physical, mental and spiritual implications, says Nathalie Cabrol in The Secret Life of the Universe—and it belongs to everyone

A new explanation for the Wow! signal suggests it was a chance detection of a furious flare crashing into a hydrogen cloud. But some researchers doubt that this idea has truly cracked the case

Mysterious “leopard spots” on a Martian rock could be evidence of extraterrestrial life—or of mere lifeless chemistry. Finding out the truth may require bringing the rock back to Earth

Claims of alien starships visiting Earth always fall short, but people still fall for them