Top Scientists Set Sights on Aliens

(NEWSER) - UFO watchers are speculating online that a NASA image of a Martian landscape may show an alien skull, reports the Telegraph. "There appears to be a narrow pointed small mouth, so this creature most likely is a carnivore," noted one. An image that looked surprisingly like a skull that made the Internet rounds three years ago is now believed to be the result of tampering. A famous "Martian face" photographed in the 1970s turned out to be a trick of light. More»

But no sign of aliens, spaceships: researchers

(NEWSER) - More fascinating news about the potential for life on Mars . Some 3% of Mars' volume is capable of sustaining life, Australian scientists have found—more than the 1% of Earth that contains living things. Researchers based their findings on a comparison between the two planets' temperature and pressure attributes, AFP reports. Rather than following earlier studies' lead and examining a single area of Mars, the scientists used a "comprehensive compilation" of the entire planet, making use of decades of findings. More»

Saturn moon, exoplanet top lists

(NEWSER) - Looking for extraterrestrials? You might want to start with Saturn’s moon Titan. Scientists have ranked it the alien world most capable of supporting life, according to a “Planetary Habitability Index,” the BBC reports. The index takes into account the planet or moon’s surface, the presence of an atmosphere, and the planet’s usable energy; both Mars and Jupiter’s moon Europa were runners-up. More»

(NEWSER) - ET, phone the General Assembly. United Nations scientific advisory committees are about to debate whether to place the organization's Office for Outer Space Affairs in charge of coordinating humankind's response if and when extraterrestrials make contact. The unit's boss is Malaysian astrophysicist Mazlan Othman, called "absolutely the nearest thing we have to a 'take me to your leader' person" by a space law expert, reports the Telegraph . “The continued search for extraterrestrial communication sustains the hope that some day humankind will received signals from extraterrestrials," she recently told scientists. More»

Astrobiology experts ponder big picture

(NEWSER) - Does intelligent life exist elsewhere in the universe and if so, is it Christian? Those and other weighty questions are up for discussion this week at a Vatican conference on astrobiology. Religious leaders and a range of scientists—including some non-Catholics—have been called in to discuss the possibility of extraterrestrial life and its implications, the Telegraph reports. More»