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Protoplanetary disc

Maps of planetary nurseries will help the complex hunt for alien life

20 September 2021

Five planetary nurseries have been chemically mapped in the most detail ever, showing hints of unexpected variety and high concentrations of the chemicals required for life


Martian surface

Martian cave entrances may offer a life-friendly radiation shield

26 August 2021

The surface of Mars is bombarded with far more dangerous radiation than Earth, but the area just inside caves may shield from UV rays while providing just enough light for life


The clouds of Venus are too dry to support life as we know it

The clouds of Venus are too dry to support life as we know it

28 June 2021

An analysis of Venus's toxic clouds found that the amount of water there is more than 100 times too low for life as we know it to survive, putting a damper on recent signs that organisms could potentially exist there


Infrared view of the centre of the Milky Way

The building blocks for life might exist at the edge of the galaxy

9 June 2021

Astronomers have found molecules that could be the building blocks of life in the far reaches of our galaxy, which may broaden the horizons of the search for extraterrestrial life


What’s next for the Mars Perseverance rover? Your questions answered

What’s next for the Mars Perseverance rover? Your questions answered

19 February 2021

Now that NASA’s Perseverance rover has landed safely on Mars, it will start taking samples and release the Ingenuity helicopter to test flying drones on other planets


Avi Loeb interview: Could ‘Oumuamua be alien technology after all?

Avi Loeb interview: Could ‘Oumuamua be alien technology after all?

10 February 2021

Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has drawn criticism for suggesting a weird object passing through the solar system could be an alien spacecraft. But he insists we must keep an open mind when nature throws us a curveball


Weird radio beam probably isn’t aliens but it’s the best candidate yet

Weird radio beam probably isn’t aliens but it’s the best candidate yet

21 December 2020

The Breakthrough Listen project has found a strange beam of radio waves from Proxima Centauri, which is the team’s best candidate yet for an alien signal


2020 in review: The hunt for life on Venus continues

2020 in review: The hunt for life on Venus continues

16 December 2020

Clara Sousa-Silva spent most of 2020 sitting on a huge secret – the apparent detection of phosphine, a potential sign of life, on Venus. She tells New Scientist what it felt like and what comes next


venus

Venus might not have signs of life after all, say astronomers

20 October 2020

Measurements of phosphine in Venus’s clouds have sparked speculation that it could have come from life, but a new analysis of infrared measurements from 2015 has failed to find the gas


Pioneer Venus Multiprobe

NASA may have found signs of life on Venus in 1978 without realising

2 October 2020

After the observation of phosphine gas on Venus, which may be a sign of life there, a new search through old data has found hints of the gas and more


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