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
21 October 2020
A new analysis of the recent observations that seemed to show phosphine gas on Venus - a potential sign of life - suggests that the original claimed detection might be a statistical error
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
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
14 September 2020
Space and physics reporter Leah Crane answers New Scientist readers’ questions on the recent finding of potential signs of life in Venus’s atmosphere
11 December 2019
The rise of the private space industry may mean allowing Earth microbes to escape to other worlds, but is it worth the risk?
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
Our regular column sorting the week's supernovae from the absolute zeros
1 April 2019
Clay on the Martian surface may be able to sustain and nourish microbes, and the Curiosity rover has just rolled into an area on Mars that’s chock full of it
18 July 2018
In the hunt for life beyond Earth, we've been looking for planets and stars like our own. But that is flawed – and a new plan promises answers in our lifetimes
