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night sky artwork

Are there any aliens out there? We are close to knowing for sure

28 August 2019

Next-generation telescopes and new ways of detecting life on other planets are transforming the search for extraterrestrials. We may finally be about to find out if aliens exist


The north pole is moving and if it flips, life on Earth is in trouble

The north pole is moving and if it flips, life on Earth is in trouble

26 June 2019

The magnetic north pole is racing towards Siberia - but why? It's a mystery with huge implications, and to solve it, we're building an explosive model of the planet's core


Mercury

How Mercury and Venus can guide our hunt for alien life on exoplanets

19 June 2019

Earth's nearest neighbours have turned into uninhabitable hellholes. Understanding their transformation will teach us which rocky exoplanets might be fit for life


Jupiter's swirling cloud formations

By Jupiter! How the solar system’s giant made Earth ripe for life

22 May 2019

An audacious mission circling Jupiter’s poles is probing the planet’s deepest mysteries - including how it shaped our solar system and paved the way for our existence


satellite ocean scene

Gaia rebooted: New version of idea explains how Earth evolved for life

20 March 2019

The controversial Gaia hypothesis sees Earth as a superorganism adapted to be perfect for life. A weird type of evolution may finally show how that actually happens


telescope

We don’t need stars to navigate space - black holes work way better

5 December 2018

If you want to find your way across the universe, forget using stars or GPS. The light from quasars billions of light years away can guide us and even help here on Earth


exoplanet

Weather forecasts from alien worlds are in - and it's wild out there

7 November 2018

We have seen violent winds, clouds of glass and ruby hailstones. In fact, weather on exoplanets can be so extreme that it can make or break their habitability


waves

Why Earth's water could be older than Earth itself

31 October 2018

How did water survive Earth's searingly hot birth? A radical new answer turns planetary history on its head – and could revolutionise the search for alien life


10 mysteries of the universe: Is our solar system normal?

10 mysteries of the universe: Is our solar system normal?

19 September 2018

Puffball planets the density of polystyrene are just some of the oddities we’ve spied in other solar systems – is our own backyard the exception, not the rule?


Uranus

Forgotten giants: Why the time is ripe to revisit Uranus and Neptune

25 July 2018

A fleeting glimpse of the ice giants 30 years ago hinted at very weird science that could tell us a lot about exoplanets. Now we have a rare chance to go back


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