Extraterrestrial

Different conditions on different planets could have led life down paths that are completely … well, alien. To demonstrate, a NASA-funded study has successfully created a new synthetic genetic system that’s a viable alternative to DNA, made with twice as many “ingredients.”

After a year of analysis, the SETI Institute has concluded that 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar object known to have visited our Solar System, isn't trying to make radio contact with us.

In 1974, astronomers used the Arecibo Observatory to beam a message from humanity to the stars, in one of the most well-known attempts to contact possible alien life. For the 44th anniversary of the Arecibo Message, scientists are reaching out to the public for help in designing an updated version.

Whether there’s life beyond Earth is one of the most profound questions we can ask. Making ourselves easier to find could be part of our first contact strategy. A new MIT study outlines a way to use existing or near-future tech to build a kind of laser lighthouse to signal to our cosmic neighbors.

Saturn’s moon Enceladus is one of the most promising places in the Solar System to look for extraterrestrial life. Now Cassini mission data has shown the presence of complex organic molecules, spraying up from the moon’s subsurface ocean through cracks in the icy shell.

We may be more alone in the Universe than we realize. According to Cardiff University astronomers, the chemical element phosphorus is abundant on Earth, but may be very rare outside of our Solar System. Because phosphorus is essential to life, it's rarity may mean that life may be equally rare.

A new study from an international team of scientists proposes that microbial life could exist in the clouds of Venus. The exciting hypothesis suggests mysterious dark patches seen in the atmosphere could be something akin to algae blooms seen in oceans on Earth.

A new study on the density of the seven planets in the nearby TRAPPIST-1 system has found that these worlds may have even more water than Earth does – but in a cruel case of having too much of a good thing, that might be enough to drown out any hopes of finding life there.

Red dwarf stars are of particular interest to astronomers hunting down distant worlds. The latest study of Kepler data has now identified 15 new exoplanets around red dwarfs, including a system of three “Super-Earths” – one of which appears to be orbiting within the host star’s habitable zone.

Saturn’s moon Enceladus is one of the most promising places to look for life. In a new study, scientists subjected earthly bacteria to the kind of conditions found on Enceladus. They were able to survive and reproduce, adding weight to the idea that the icy moon might just be able to support life.

When it was first discovered in 2016, Proxima b looked like a prime spot to hunt for extraterrestrial life. More recent studies have painted a bleaker picture, and now the final nail in the coffin could be a huge stellar flare detected last year, which would have baked the surface of the planet.

Two meteorites that fell in 1998 were found to contain traces of liquid water and organic compounds vital to life. Now, a comprehensive chemical analysis of them suggests their organic matter could come from an ancient ocean world, giving them the potential to kickstart life wherever they land.