3.5 billion-year-old rock structures are one of the oldest signs of life on Earth
Fossils called stromatolites from Western Australia were created by microbes 3.48 billion years ago.
Search for Life
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What's that smell? Broccoli emits gas that could signal presence of alien life
Broccoli, algae and many other plants and microbes on Earth purge toxins by morphing them into gases that might be present in exoplanet atmospheres, signaling life.
James Webb Space Telescope could search for 'laughing gas' to find alien life
An alternative biosignature on alien planets could be the same chemical that makes laughing gas.
James Webb Space Telescope could help hunt for habitable alien worlds
A computer simulation of TRAPPIST-1e shows how the James Webb Space Telescope could help the search for habitable alien worlds.
Scientists are working on an official 'alien contact protocol' for when ET phones Earth
We're unprepared for when E.T. reaches out to us. A team of experts is determined to change that.
Most UFOs are 'Chinese surveillance' drones and 'airborne clutter,' Pentagon officials reveal
The U.S. government has officially started to explain some of the most infamous UFO encounters of the last decade, with China and weather balloons as top offenders.
There aren't actually UFOs over Ukraine, experts say
A recent report about pitch-black "phantom" UFOs in the skies over Ukraine has been discredited by Ukrainian scientists and by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb.
NASA has a life-detecting instrument ready to fly to Europa or Enceladus
OWLS, the Ocean Worlds Life Surveyor, would autonomously search for life on the icy moons of the outer solar system.
Extremophiles on Mars could survive for hundreds of millions of years
Experiments have shown how the world's hardiest microbe could endure freezing, dry and irradiated conditions on Mars.
NASA UFO study team includes former astronaut, scientists and more
NASA's highly anticipated UFO study is about to begin, and we now know who will conduct it.
Mars rover Perseverance gearing up to cache samples for future return to Earth
Perseverance has socked away 14 drilled-out Mars rock cores to date — two apiece from seven target rocks — and it will likely drop half of them in a "depot" in November or December.
If aliens have visited the solar system, here's how to find clues they left
In a new paper, scientists outline how we can look for clues any alien visitors to our solar system may have left behind.
How to use the James Webb Space Telescope to hunt for life around white dwarfs
Many white dwarfs host planets that may lie within the habitable zones of those stars and may even support life. Now, scientists have outlined how to hunt for that possible life.
'Pale blue dot' planets like Earth may make up only 1% of potentially habitable worlds
Earth's delicate balance of land and water might be a cosmic rarity, with a new model suggesting that most planets are landlocked desert worlds.
Missing element for life may be present in ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus
The underground ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus may contain significant amounts of phosphorus, which is vital for life as we know it.
Contact with ET: How would humanity react?
The knowledge that we're not alone in the universe could have far-reaching effects on our view of ourselves and our place in the universe. But it's tough to get more specific than that.
The Drake equation for alien intelligence is more important than ever
In 1961, the US astrophysicist Frank Drake, who passed away on Sept. 2 at the age of 92, came up with an equation to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in the Milky Way right now.
Curiosity rover: 15 awe-inspiring photos of Mars (gallery)
NASA's Curiosity rover continues to explore Mars, taking incredible photos as it goes. We take a look at some of its best images here.
