Exoplanets

Why Exploring Alien Life Is No Longer a Laughing Matter

Culturally and scientifically, we’re no longer giggling about alien life.

The Globe and Mail

It’s Time to Start Taking the Search for E.T. Seriously, Astronomers Say

Some scientists are pushing for NASA to make looking for alien technology an official goal.

Science News

Have Aliens Found Us? A Harvard Astronomer on the Mysterious Interstellar Object ‘Oumuamua

Avi Loeb discusses why we need to consider the possibility that the object was sent by aliens, the dangers of unscientific speculation, and what belief in an advanced extraterrestrial civilization has in common with faith in God.

The New Yorker

Thinking About Distant Civilizations Isn’t Speculative

Avi Loeb on the mysterious interstellar body ‘Oumuamua.

DER SPIEGEL

A $100-Million Startup Shares Incredible Plan to Propel Spacecraft With Giant Lasers

Breakthrough Starshot is moving ahead with an audacious vision for space exploration.

Big Think

A Frozen Super-Earth May Orbit Barnard’s Star

At just six light years away, the candidate planet would be the second-closest world known beyond our solar system — and a prime target for future studies.

Scientific American

Search for Alien Life Should Be a Fundamental Part of NASA, New Report Urges

A blue-ribbon committee finds the science of astrobiology is worthy of deep integration into the space agency’s exploration efforts.

Scientific American

The Disks of Gas and Dust That Supposedly Form Planets Don’t Seem to Have the Goods

A new study finds that protoplanetary disks — the envelopes of dust and gas around young stars that give rise to planets — seem to contain orders of magnitude too little material to produce the planets.

Science

NASA Hosts Conference All About Looking for Signs of Civilization Beyond Earth

Adam Frank on the NASA Technosignatures Workshop.

All Things Considered, NPR

Are We Alone? Tiny Spacecraft Will Head to Alpha Centauri to Find Out

Breakthrough Starshot seeks to discover whether there’s life on the planets orbiting our nearest star neighbors.

CNET

This Rocky Exoplanet Is the Most Likely to Support Life

Of the thousands of known exoplanets, Kepler-452b has the most ideal combination of UV light exposure and conditions for liquid water.

Seeker

Why Alien ‘Life’ May Be Weirder Than We Imagine

Alien life has been a mainstay and fascination of science fiction, but who — or what — might actually be out there: biological life, artificial intelligence, or some combination of both?

World Science Festival

Are We Alone?

The hunt for clues in the universe to answer one of humanity’s biggest questions.

NOVA

Is Humanity Unusual In The Cosmos?

Adam Frank talks with Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb about exo-civilizations, techno-signatures, and the search for alien life — living or long-gone.

13.7: Cosmos & Culture

Searching for Earth-Like Planets From Earth and Space

If life is found beyond Earth, it will be found on an exoplanet. This explains the intense interest and increased effort in discovering exoplanets.

The Science Show, ABC Radio National

More Than a Trillion Planets Could Exist Beyond Our Galaxy

A new study gives the first evidence that exoplanets exist beyond the Milky Way.

National Geographic

Exoplanet Science 2.0

The study of life on and off Earth needs unified funding and a coherent plan, say Caleb Scharf, Debra Fischer, and Victoria Meadows.

Nature

Found: Another Star System With Eight Planets, Just Like Ours

Only a handful of star systems have more than a single planet. With eight worlds, our solar system has long taken the prize for the biggest lineup. But no longer.

The Washington Post

Exoplanet Hunters Rethink Search for Alien Life

Astronomers expand ideas of how chemistry and geology could affect chances for life on other worlds.

Nature

A Nearby Earth-Size Planet May Have Conditions for Life

Astronomers have found a planet circling Ross 128, a quiet red star in our own galactic neighborhood.

The New York Times

Nearby Exoplanets Invigorate the Search for E.T.

SETI pioneer Jill Tarter and Berkeley researcher Dan Werthimer talk about how the discovery of nearby exoplanets is inspiring new efforts to gain info about these galactic neighbors.

60-Second Science, Scientific American