Search for Life

The LIFE mission would feature four space telescopes acting together to search for biosignatures on rocky planets in the habitable zones of their stars.

Two nearby explosive massive star deaths, or supernovas, may have triggered mass extinction events in Earth's distant past, new research suggests.

A rock on Mars that may hold clues about ancient microbial life on the Red Planet continues to puzzle scientists.

"We were surprised that water could actually form so early on — even before the birth of the first galaxies."

A distant star-killing supernova could have bombarded Earth with radiation strong enough to shift the course of evolution.

Astronomers have discovered that sulfur may be a key to helping us narrow down our search for life on other planets.

The idea that life on Earth arose through a series of improbable "hard" evolutionary steps may be misjudged, according to a new paper that says our Earth had a big say in matters.

If we're looking for life as we don't know it, the best solvent out there may be concentrated sulfuric acid — the stuff that's floating around in the clouds of Venus.