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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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?
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
