Planets with shells of diamond, others completely covered with water – the latest computer models predict some pretty strange worlds are lurking out there. And we could be on the verge of spotting them thanks to the latest planet hunting technology…
Life on other worlds will develop strange, unfamiliar and novel solutions to common evolutionary problems, writes astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell.
We find out what the folk next door could look like.
When will we find the moon from the movie?
Proof of the existence of extraterrestrial life may be closer than we think, thanks to a surge of research in astrobiology. Lewis Dartnell is determined to ascertain that we are not alone
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Mark Burchell and Lewis Dartnell review the current standing of astrobiology research in the UK, and look to future success.
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Two of the most fundamental questions asked by people are how life emerged on the Earth, and whether we are alone in the cosmos. These deeply important questions form the core of a new kind of science, one that recently has been rapidly gathering momentum: astrobiology. Lewis Dartnell explains.
Could planets made of diamond and iron exist? While hundreds of exoplanets have already been discovered, astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell reckons it’s just a matter of time before we find the truly bizarre ones.
With the thunderous launch of the Delta II rocket this weekend, not only was the Kepler space telescope lofted into the sky, but also our hopes of finding a Second Earth. But now, after those few minutes of intense excitement, comes several months of impatient waiting.
When you hear about near-misses from asteroids like 2009 DD45, so-called near-Earth objects, your first thoughts might be of the apocalyptic. Hollywood has ensured that we are all fully aware of the risks posed to planet Earth from such space rocks, perhaps not to extinguish all life on our planet
How astronomers could find a planet just like home in 2009
The first world beyond our solar system was discovered in 1992, and since then astronomers have been finding such ‘extrasolar planets’ (also abbreviated to ‘exoplanets’) at an ever quickening rate. As techniques and telescopes increase in sensitivity, the race is on to be the first to announce the discovery of a truly terrestrial exoplanet – a Second Earth.