Powerful telescopes are coming soon. Where exactly shall we point them?

The author of a new study of evolutionary convergence argues that the development of life on Earth is predictable, meaning that similar organisms should therefore have appeared on other, Earth-like planets by now. 

Nonphotosynthetic pigments could be biosignatures of life on other worlds.

Planets with volcanic activity are considered better candidates for life than worlds without such heated internal goings-on.

For centuries, humans have sought to learn whether life exists beyond Earth. That answer is closer than ever to fulfillment, and an Arizona State University team is working on a key part of that quest with NASA’s backing.

Lack of alien-filled galaxies is an interesting and new scientific result

Findings hint that prebiotic chemistry is universal.

Among the billions and billions of stars in the sky, where should astronomers look for infant Earths where life might develop?

Astronomers using data from three of NASA's space telescopes — Hubble, Spitzer, and Kepler — have discovered clear skies and steamy water vapor on a gaseous planet outside our solar system. The planet is about the size of Neptune, making it the smallest for which molecules of any kind have been detected.

Astronomers searching the atmospheres of alien worlds for gases that might be produced by life can't rely on the detection of just one type, such as oxygen, ozone, or methane, because in some cases these gases can be produced non-biologically, according to extensive simulations by researchers in the NASA Astrobiology Institute’s Virtual Planetary Laboratory.