Aliens articles
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How top scientists think we'll finally hear from aliens
Top scientists worldwide hunting for alien life have all predicted humans will make contact in the next decade, but how communication will carry out varies from astronomer to astronomer.
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Alien Earths: How to find habitable worlds in our galaxy
This week, I have the pleasure of sharing with you my Q&A with Lisa Kaltenegger about her new book, Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos. Lisa is a world-renowned astrobiologist and the Director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University. Earlier this year, we published a joint paper with Sara Vannah proposing a new strategy for identifying planets that share similar characteristics with Earth at different times across its evolution. Life writes its presence on...
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Gaiasignatures: A new way to search for alien life
Hunting for life on other planets is hard; it’s like trying to spot an ant on the other end of a football field. The closest potential host, Venus, is 25 million miles away. Beyond our Solar System, exoplanets that have piqued astronomers’ interest are light-years away. To search for life from these sizable distances, scientists look for biosignatures: elements, molecules, or substances that might have been made by life. These include oxygen and methane, among other compounds. But there’s...