Is there life beyond Earth?
Caleb Scharf works in the fields of exoplanetary science and astrobiology, and writes extensively about science for a popular audience. Exoplanetary science is devoted to the discovery and characterization of planets around other stars, and understanding the formation, histories, and properties of these planets. One ultimate goal of this research is to find planets that could harbor recognizable life, and to detect the presence of that life—an effort that falls under the banner of astrobiology.
praise for The Ascent of Information
“Full of fascinating insights drawn from an impressive range of disciplines, The Ascent of Information casts the familiar and the foreign in a dramatic new light.”
— Brian Greene
Featured Items
Is Physical Law an Alien Intelligence?
Alien life could be so advanced it becomes indistinguishable from physics.
- Nautilus
Where Do Minds Belong?
Intelligence could have been moving back and forth between biological beings and machine receptacles for aeons.
– Aeon
Life Beyond the Pale Blue Dot
Our own oasis of life in the cosmos is blue, but will others be?
– Nautilus
A Universe Full of Planets
The phrase “scientific revolution” tends to get overused. But there is one happening right now that could arguably alter the entire trajectory of human existence.
– The New York Times
