From Cosmos, the Wow! signal, the most famous in SETI history, was detected on the night of 15 August 1977; where should we be looking for extraterrestrials? A small, roving telescope is helping scientists to find planets capable of harbouring life; and SETI@50: Only a matter of time, says Frank Drake. We’re all alone and no one knows why — does this mean humanity is trapped inside an expansion boundary from which we can never escape? A review of The Eerie Silence: Are We Alone in the Universe? by Paul Davies (and more and more and more and more and more and more). Looking for ET: As the search for alien life turns 50, its practitioners find new methods (and more). A radical explanation for a conundrum about extraterrestrial life, and what it means for the future of humanity. Can you hear me now? Astronomers reconsider how extraterrestrials could make contact. Signs of life: Is it time for a new approach to finding extraterrestrials? Stephen Hawking suggests that instead of seeking aliens out, humanity should be doing all it that can to avoid any contact (and more). From FT, a review of How to Find a Habitable Planet by James Kasting; We Are Not Alone: Why We Have Already Found Extraterrestrial Life by Dirk Schulze-Makuch and David Darling (and more and more); and Life, the Universe and the Scientific Method by Steven Benner. Aliens, Martians, extraterrestrials — how do we find out whether there’s life on other planets? An interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson, author of The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet. U.S. scientists call for the creation of an International Asteroid Defense Agency. Giant rocks or snowballs in space, while more likely to hit in Hollywood than anywhere else on Earth, remain a threat that policymakers are taking seriously.
