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In a new study, researchers predict what an alien “Earth” could really look like, and how it could evolve (if one exists). In the search for evidence of life elsewhere in the universe, scientists have searched for planets similar to our own. Our closest stellar neighbor, the Alpha Centauri system, holds an exoplanet that scientists … Read more
This is a game-changer.
Are there civilizations somewhere else in the Universe? Somewhere else in the Milky Way? That’s one of our overarching questions, and an answer in the affirmative would be profound. Humanity’s pursued the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in one form or another since shortly after the advent of radio waves in the early 20th … Read more
COVID-19 has infected every part of our lives over the last two years. The ways we work, engage with our surroundings, and see family and friends have all been drastically altered during the ongoing pandemic. By far the worst have been the deaths of all the loved ones the disease has taken from us. … Read more
The subject of terraforming lies at the center of James Cameron’s Aliens, at least when it comes to worldbuilding. Released in 1979, Ridley Scott’s Alien already saw a group of space truckers visit an unknown “planetoid,” which would later become LV-426 in the 1986 sequel. And spacesuits weren’t needed anymore to walk on its surface … Read more
Scientists have spotted the first evidence of an alien world with an atmosphere that’s layered like Earth’s — although perhaps a little too toasty for human tastes. The planet, dubbed WASP-189b, isn’t a new discovery. Scientists already knew that the world, which lies about 322 light-years from Earth, is a gas giant that orbits its … Read more
Warning: Season 1 spoilers ahead Sci-fi fan-favorite Alan Tudyk is here to save humankind with pizza. Tudyk is returning to his role as Harry Vanderspiegel, the alien posing as a local doctor, in the second season of “Resident Alien,” premiering tonight (Jan. 26) on Syfy. In the new season, fans will finally get to see … Read more
It’s been a busy four years for NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the scientists who seek planets in its data. The mission just hit a major discovery milestone, passing 5,000 of what the team calls TESS Objects of Interest, or TOIs, which include exoplanet candidates and other intriguing signals. Astronomers select objects from … Read more
Watch the sun set from a particularly dark patch of Earth and you may spot a triangle of what scientists call zodiacal light extending from where our star passed below the horizon. Zodiacal light in Earth’s skies is created when sunlight bounces off the dust that fills the solar system, the remains of pulverized asteroids … Read more
Scientists got a close look at an extreme case of seasons thanks to a retired NASA telescope. Researchers used NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to film a year on an exoplanet called XO-3b. Conveniently, a year on this world lasts only three Earth days. Within that time, the exoplanet experiences a one-day-long summer and a two-day-long … Read more