Astronomers have detected the most promising signs yet of a possible biosignature outside the solar system, although they remain cautious. Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the ...

Dimethyl sulfide is cool—and a potential biosignature—but scientists are urging caution before we declare a plankton party some 120 light-years away. Reading time 5 minutes Last week, researchers ...

A detection of phosphine in the atmosphere of a brown dwarf 54 light-years from Earth deepens the mystery of phosphorus chemistry throughout the Milky Way. An ancient object more than 10 billion years ...

(CNN) — A team of astronomers have detected what they call the most promising signs to date of a possible biosignature, or signs of past or present life linked to biological activity, on an exoplanet ...

February 11, 2025, Mountain View, CA – The SETI Institute awarded the first Frank Drake Postdoctoral Fellowship to Dr. Anastasia Yanchilina. Yanchilina will focus on distinguishing biosignatures from ...

This figure shows ozone detection in Venus' atmosphere between 2006 and 2014 by the ESA's Venus Express. Credit: Evdokimova et al. 2011, JGR Planets Just because we can find ozone in the atmosphere of ...

A team of astronomers announced this week that they’ve detected a possible sign of life on an exoplanet 124 light years away using the James Webb Space Telescope. Even more enticingly, the exoplanet, ...

The finding suggests phosphine—a potential biosignature—shouldn’t be viewed as evidence of alien life until natural, non-biological sources are ruled out. Reading time 5 minutes For scientists, the ...

In a quiet corner of an ancient riverbed on Mars, a speckled rock has pushed the search for extraterrestrial life into its ...

Astronomers have been poring over last week's claim of the detection of life-associated gases in the atmosphere of a distant planet named K2-18b — "the strongest evidence yet that life may exist on a ...