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Introduction: Astrobiology
Nobody has yet seen an extraterrestrial, but scientists have found clues that life may be quite common in the universe. New Scientist takes a quick tour of the evidence
LATEST
Meteorite cargo could solve origin-of-life riddle
15:24 01 March 2011
Abundant, ready-made ammonia discovered in meteorite dust could have given the early Earth the building blocks for proteins, DNA and RNA
Telltale chemistry could betray ET
THIS WEEK: 11:34 21 January 2011
Alien life may be hard to find because it's fundamentally unlike that on Earth – but a tendency to chemically alter its environment may give it away
Is first life-friendly exoplanet an 'eyeball'?
THIS WEEK: 17:49 13 January 2011 | 2 comments
One way that Gliese 581 g could host life is if it is a frozen world with a single, pupil-like ocean of liquid water
Smallest planet is nearly Earth-sized
22:37 10 January 2011 | 7 comments
NASA's Kepler telescope has turned up a planet that is just 1.4 times as wide as Earth – unfortunately, it is too hot to host life as we know it
Don't send bugs to Mars
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: 10:00 28 December 2010 | 10 comments
A plan to send live microbes to the Red Planet's largest moon risks wrecking our search for extraterrestrial life, argues Barry E. DiGregorio
Could we detect trees on other planets?
20:23 17 December 2010 | 3 comments
The shadows cast by alien trees should change the amount of light their host planet reflects as it orbits its star
The poison eaters: alternative life forms
THIS WEEK: 18:00 08 December 2010 | 6 comments
Two chemicals that swiftly kill most living things may sustain weird organisms in harsh environments on Earth, or even on alien planets
Arsenic-based bacteria point to new life forms
18:04 02 December 2010 | 14 comments
Bacteria that grow without the essential element phosphorus have been isolated from California's Mono Lake
Hardy bugs could survive a million years on Mars
19:48 23 November 2010
The intense Martian cold should prolong the ability of Conan the Bacterium to withstand intense radiation
Super-Earths may be hostile to life
IN BRIEF: 12:00 06 November 2010
Rocky planets a few times heavier than Earth could be solid to the core, making them unable to generate magnetic fields that fend off harmful cosmic rays
TOP 10
Controversial pieces of evidence for extraterrestrial life
Over the years many hints have emerged that there might be life beyond Earth. New Scientist looks at 10 of the most hotly-debated discoveries