Aliens
Latest about Extraterrestrial Life
![Three galactic swirls among stars against a black sky.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Nj8cfTCwWPbGPPtVnpoEAC-320-80.jpg)
Scientists are searching for alien signals at frequencies never studied before
By Owen Johnson published
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) continues as scientists look to low-frequency radio waves that have long gone unexplored.
![A microscopic metal ball slitters with various elements](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Jyq5QULaJKuV38dqAp9e29-320-80.jpg)
'Alien' spherules dredged from the Pacific are probably just industrial pollution, new studies suggest
By Joanna Thompson published
Last summer, a Harvard professor claimed tiny pellets of iron came from beyond our solar system. But new analyses suggest that they likely originated much closer to home.
![An illustration of a green and blue planet in space with light shining on it.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nb5Jep3eFRYgCkk6wboxRd-320-80.jpg)
What's the best evidence we've found for alien life?
By Patrick Pester published
Don't expect an alien invasion anytime soon.
![Life requires repetition of chemical reactions. Describing the kinds of reactions and conditions required for self-sustaining repetition — called autocatalysis — could focus the search for life on other planets.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/WntpM3BTWwGmTt8nE9zpsj-320-80.jpg)
Alien life may evolve from radically different elements than human life did
By Charles Q. Choi published
Radioactive metals and even certain gases may be capable of the kinds of reactions needed to spur life, new research suggests.
![NASA's Curiosity rover took this selfie while inside Mars' Gale crater on June 15, 2018, which was the 2,082nd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ubY9QH5fSdZMMco9rYuiP4-320-80.jpg)
Scientists created AI that could detect alien life — and they're not entirely sure how it works
By Ben Turner published
The new machine-learning algorithm can distinguish between biological and nonbiological samples with 90% accuracy. Exactly how is a mystery.
![A still from a U.S. Navy video reportedly showing an unidentified anomalous phenomena encountered in military airspace off America's east coast in 2015.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/HT7Ceu5nYWoE3DbUycrGr7-320-80.jpg)
No aliens in NASA's debut UFO report — but big questions remain
By Brett Tingley published
In the agency's first public report on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), NASA experts admit "we don't know what these UAP are."
![An artist's illustration of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft poised to land on the asteroid Bennu.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cur28rN9WEuiWz9YSG6foD-320-80.jpg)
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission almost bit the dust — then Queen guitarist Brian May stepped in
By Ben Turner published
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will soon return to Earth. What's on board could reveal the extraterrestrial origins of life on Earth.
![Is the Pentagon secretly witholding evidence that UFOs have non-human origins?](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Kzp6s7j4bmLwBn7Sn5giNJ-320-80.jpg)
US government is hiding evidence of 'non-human intelligence', UFO whistleblower tells Congress
By Brett Tingley published
During a congressional hearing on Wednesday (July 26), military witnesses claimed that evidence of non-human technology is being hidden from the public.
![An illustration of a flying saucer looking pitch-black against the starry night sky](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/tVz4Ndv87iiEHrxqdGSkNb-320-80.jpg)
First contact with aliens could easily end in genocide, scholars warn
By David Delgado Shorter published
SETI has been searching for evidence of alien life – but could doing so end in disaster?
![A microscopic metal ball glitters with various elements](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Jyq5QULaJKuV38dqAp9e29-320-80.jpg)
'Anomalous' metal spheres unlikely to be alien technology, despite Harvard scientist's claim
By Joanna Thompson published
A prominent extraterrestrial-hunting scientist thinks that more than 50 tiny, metal spheres pulled from the Pacific Ocean might be the work of intelligent aliens. Others are skeptical.
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