Search For Life

Search For Life

Silhouette of NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft with antennas poised against a colorful planetary surface, sparking dreams of alien life.
No claim has even made it halfway up the Confidence of Life Detection (CoLD) scale, but 21st century science is just beginning to unfold.
View of a planet’s surface in the foreground with a red moon or planet and stars visible in the background against the dark space.
7mins
30 years ago, we didn’t know other stars had planets orbiting them. Now, we may be on the verge of finding Earth’s Twin. Sara Seager explains.
From the vastness of space, Earth at night reveals its exo-earth beauty, with illuminated continents showcasing a tapestry of lights across North and South America. Major cities and regions emerge from the glowing darkness, painting a vivid picture against the backdrop of oceans.
In 2025, Earth remains the only planet where life is known to exist. Without a second example, "The Stand" has a vital lesson to teach us.
A smiling man with short dark hair wears a button-up shirt, standing in front of a purple, splattered-texture background.
Big Think spoke with astronomer David Kipping about technosignatures, "extragalactic SETI," and being a popular science communicator in the YouTube age.
Mars rover on rocky terrain, showing its camera mast, equipment, and six wheels against a dusty, reddish Martian landscape.
Organic compounds can form through simple chemistry alone — making the search for true biosignatures trickier than it seems.
Black and white illustration of a stylized human eye in the top left and a detailed depiction of an eyeball’s internal structure in the bottom right on a beige background.
2mins
We may be close to finding life beyond Earth. But would we even recognize it if we did? Astrobiologist Betül Kaçar explains what signs NASA is looking for.
Illustration of three planets orbiting a star, with colored bands indicating the habitable zone; text reads "FINDING LIFE Habital Zone.
18mins
"There's a long history of people claiming planets which look Earth-like, Earth 2.0, Earth twins."
A person in a suit sits on a chair against a cosmic background with galaxies and stars.
1hr 33mins
"Many astronomers are really driven by the search for Earth twins because I think deep down the natural endpoint of this whole goal of looking for planets is to answer the question, are we alone?"
A detailed image of the moon with visible craters and surface textures, set against a dark sky filled with numerous stars.
Finding life beyond our Solar System requires understanding its host planet.
A spacecraft hovers near a bright ring of light in space, surrounded by misty rays and a vast, dark background.
This research team is working out how to detect extraterrestrial cells in the liquid water ocean hidden beneath Enceladus’s icy crust.
first contact
Life arose on Earth very early on. After a few billion years, here we are: intelligent and technologically advanced. Where's everyone else?
An image of the Martian surface.
Sophisticated rovers have found the conditions for Martian life, as well as the building blocks of life, but never life itself. AI can help.
The little book about aliens on the moon.
We may be the last generation born not knowing if we are alone in the Universe.
an image of a nebula with TRAPPIST stars in it.
The space telescope's findings challenge the notion of a galaxy brimming with life.
a close up of a rock with holes in it.
A next-generation instrument on a delayed rover may be the key to answering the question of life on Mars.
iceberg antarctica
Some microbes can withstand Earth's most inhospitable corners, hinting that life may be able to survive similarly extreme conditions on other worlds.
If life is common in the Universe, then where is everybody? Known as the Fermi Paradox, a new project may help solve the riddle.
Dead whales inspire a way to find extraterrestrial life on Mars.
Astronomers have been looking for radio waves sent by a distant civilization for more than 60 years.
mars life
Organic molecules can be produced by living or non-living systems. But the recent findings are very intriguing.
phosphine venus life
Earth is the Solar System's only known inhabited planet. Could Venus, if its phosphine signal is real, be our second world with life?
how common is life
Some astrobiologists believe life is rare, while others believe it is common in the Universe. How can we find out which view is correct?
There really might be extraterrestrials out there, attempting to make contact. Here's how science, not fiction, is attempting to find them.
first contact
Life arose on Earth very early on. After a few billion years, here we are: intelligent and technologically advanced. Where's everyone else?
biosignatures
Purely physical and chemical processes can deceive us into thinking that life is present, when it actually is not.
If we succeed in contacting them, will that seal humanity’s doom? One of the most wondrous questions of all concerns our place in the Universe. After 13.8 billion years of […]
If you want to find life in the Universe, this is how you do it. When it comes to uncovering the ultimate truths about reality, we can only reap what we […]
How many potentially habitable planets are there? We sincerely don’t know. One of the most compelling scientific goals humanity has set for itself is to find extraterrestrial life: biological activity originating […]
One look at the uncertainties and the assumptions changes the story tremendously. Is there intelligent life out there in the Milky Way beyond our own Solar System? If so, how […]