For decades, many scientists have relied on the "hard steps" model to suggest that intelligent life is rare — the improbable result of a series of unlikely evolutionary leaps. But new research by ...

New theory proposes that humans — and analogous life beyond Earth — may represent the probable outcome of biological and planetary evolution UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Humanity may not be extraordinary ...

The universe is a slow-changing place. While it's mostly true that the heavens and the deep-sky objects in it will look largely the same across an average human lifetime, there are dramatic examples ...

Astronomers have discovered an unusual exoplanet that has managed to retain its atmosphere despite intense nearby radiation from a giant red star. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found the ...

Image: A Hubble Space Telescope image of circumstellar disc surrounding a young star. Just as anthropologists sought “the missing link” between apes and humans, astronomers are embarking on a quest ...

A peculiar planet unraveled by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has left astronomers scratching their heads. Despite being bombarded with intense radiation from its red giant parent ...

Astronomers soon will look at dust disks evolving around Milky Way stars to learn if solar systems like ours are rare or commonplace. “We will look for signatures of planets that sculpt circumstellar ...