Across astronomy and astrobiology, a quiet but profound shift is underway. Instead of assuming the galaxy teems with civilizations, a growing body of research argues that complex, technological life ...

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 ...

Complex, intelligent life in the galaxy appears vanishingly rare, with the nearest possible civilization perhaps 33,000 light-years distant. Yet despite the odds, scientists insist that continuing the ...

Chris Impey, when he's not helping to run the department of astronomy at the University of Arizona, researches the origin and evolution of galaxies. When he's not doing that, he is thinking about how ...