"Project Hail Mary" really pushes the limit when it comes to non-humanoid aliens. But researchers posit that real aliens could be even stranger than that.

When people imagine life on other planets, they often picture creatures unlike anything found on Earth. Perhaps they have ...

The moment of first contact with extraterrestrials is a staple of science fiction. It usually involves a frantic scientist having a Eureka moment, realising in a single dramatic instant that Earth is ...

In these science fiction books, extraterrestrial beings are sympathetic, horrifying and everything in between. By James S.A. Corey James S.A. Corey is the pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, the ...

Erik Hawkins is an award-winning writer and editor who's been obsessed with cinema since he was old enough to hold Roger Ebert's Video Home Companion in his hands. He lives in NYC, where he rabidly ...

Scientists are listening in on sperm whale conversations and studying Earth's strangest microbes to prepare humanity for first contact with extraterrestrial life. Tardigrades—a type of invertebrate ...

While the movies of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe might have left much to be desired, they did feature an alien threat more powerful than the Xenomorph. Marvel’s Symbiotes are heavily featured, with the ...

Octopus cyanea found in the both Indian and Pacific ocean. It grows to 16 cm in mantle length with arms to atleast 80 cm.© Amirkhans world/Shutterstock.com If forced to choose one descriptor for the ...

There’s no data to suggest that aliens exist. However, if we believed they existed and came to Earth, our planet would offer them a somewhat risky buffet. There is liquid water, as well as salts, ...

With 'Disclosure Day,' the director returns to a longtime preoccupation. Two Times staffers explore his ongoing fascination with extraterrestrials.