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The essential guide to proving we’ve found alien life

Space

The essential guide to proving we’ve found alien life

From mudstones on Mars to strange gases in exoplanet atmospheres, tentative evidence for extraterrestrial life is starting to come thick and fast. But when we've found it, how will we know for sure?

Features

Space

Hopes of finding aliens were raised in 2025 – but quickly faded

News

SNR 0519, the remnant of a supernova that exploded about 600 years ago

Space

Earth and solar system may have been shaped by nearby exploding star

News

The supernova remnant Cassiopeia A

Space

Odd elements in supernova blast might have implications for alien life

News

A deep image of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Space

Comet 3I/ATLAS from beyond solar system carries key molecule for life

News

OSIRIS-REx Sample

Space

Asteroid Bennu carries all the ingredients for life as we know it

News

A hand holding glowing prion proteins, from which fossils and microbes emerge.

Life

A sinister, deadly brain protein could reveal the origins of all life

Features

Physics

We may need a fourth law of thermodynamics for living systems

News

seafloor covered with manganese nodules

Environment

Have we found a greener way to do deep-sea mining?

News

Sporophyte sample from the space exposure experiment on the ISS

Life

Moss spores survive and germinate after 283-day 'space walk'

Astronauts strapped moss spores to the outside of the International Space Station for nine months - and most of them survived the challenging experience

News

Space

Caves carved by water on Mars may hold signs of past life

News

Space

Enceladus’s ocean may be even better for life than we realised

News

Space

We may never figure out where interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS came from

News

Life

Orcas are ganging up on great white sharks to eat their livers

News