Alien

Somewhere out there, alien civilizations might be communicating with each other. They might even be trying to contact us. Fifty years ago, this reasoning compelled astronomer Frank Drake to point a radio telescope at the stars and listen for chatter. He didn’t hear E.T. calling us, calling home, or calling anywhere else during his four-month-long experiment at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, W.Va., but the effort officially kicked off what is known as SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Do aliens exist? Explore the evidence — from the scientifically plausible to the incredible — suggesting that we may not be alone in the universe.

A Neptune-size planet likely covered in hot—but solid—water has been discovered in a snug orbit around a nearby star, a team of astronomers announced today.

While this planet is not fit for life, the finding suggests astronomers may soon detect habitable planets in similar alien solar systems, said Michaël Gillon of the University of Liège in Belgium.

Scientists may be able to determine the color of extraterrestrial plant life while studying distant planets, according to a pair of new studies.

Researchers have developed a way to analyze the light emitted by a given planet’s parent star and determine how that light interacts with various chemicals in the planet’s atmosphere.

An unexpectedly large amount of carbon—the basis of life as we know it—surrounds a young nearby star where astronomers believe rocky planets are forming, according to a new study.

Such an environment might spawn tar-covered, diamond-rich worlds and life-forms that consume oxygen-rich foods, one scientist speculates.

It may be the start of summer, but Ron Hoham and a few other scientists like him are thinking about snow, specifically colored snow.

Where others see an excuse to snicker about yellow snow, Hoham sees other shades—and one of the most extreme and overlooked life-forms on Earth.

Scientists say Jupiter’s moon Europa rivals Mars as a potential refuge for life. Some of them are now urging NASA to explore the ice-covered satellite.

“It takes longer to get there [than to get to Mars], it’s more expensive, and a bigger deal to plan a mission. But if I had a choice, I’d go for Europa,” said Lynn Rothschild, an astrobiologist with the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.