The currently accepted definition of lifeThis is the standard definition currently adopted in many textbooks. Anything that ...

To successfully look for life beyond our own solar system, astrobiologists desperately need a viable definition of life. Even after a century or so of debate, they lack a viable universal definition ...

I watch Rufus, a friend’s dog, chew enthusiastically on a rubber bone. I know the dog is alive, and his toy is not. I know that intuitively. But can I prove it scientifically? Can science parse the ...

Just like your left and right hand exist as mirror images of each other, many biological molecules have their own form of left- and right-handedness, called chirality. Our DNA, for example, is made of ...

A new study proposes detecting life in space by spotting patterns across many planets instead of focusing on one at a time. If life spreads and changes planetary environments, it could leave behind ...

A research team has developed a new approach to detecting life beyond Earth that does not rely on identifying specific biological markers. Instead, the study suggests that life may be detectable ...