Exoplanets

Astronomers Get Serious About Alien Technosignatures

The hunt for alien technosignatures heats up.

Forbes

The Interiors of Exoplanets May Well Hold the Key to Their Habitability

Determining whether a distant planet is truly habitable may require an understanding of its inner dynamics — which will for sure be a challenge to achieve.

Many Worlds

This Could Be the Most Earth-Like Exoplanet Discovered Yet

The CARMENES team found evidence of two planets around Teegarden, called Teegarden b and c.

Gizmodo

Exoplanets With Complex Life May Be Very Rare, Even in Their “Habitable Zones”

The term “habitable zone” can be a misleading one, since it describes a limited number of conditions on a planet to make it hospitable to life.

Many Worlds

Moon Blobs, Collapsars, and Long Planets

A roundup of recent research with astrobiological implications.

Life, Unbounded, Scientific American

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, NPR

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