What if we find nothing in our search for life beyond Earth?

Scientists want a new mission to hunt for life beyond Earth

A trip to planets outside our solar system could tell scientists a lot — even if no extraterrestrial life is found

In the Search for Extraterrestrial Life, This Surprising Result May Bring us Closer to a Groundbreaking Discovery

"What if extraterrestrial life is not found?" international researchers ask, seeking to understand how negative results could aid future work.

What if we find nothing in our search for life beyond Earth?

What if we spend decades building advanced telescopes to search for life on other planets and come up emptyhanded? A recent study exploring what we can learn about life in the universe -- even if we don't detect signs of life or habitability. Using advanced statistical modeling, the research team sought to explore how many exoplanets scientists should observe and understand before declaring that life beyond Earth is either common or rare.

Empty Skies, Big Answers: What Null Results Teach Us About Life in the Universe

Even if no life is found on other planets, smart survey design and careful statistics can still reveal how rare, or common, life really is in the universe. What happens if we scan dozens of distant planets for signs of life, and find nothing? A team led by Dr. Daniel Angerhausen, a physicist in the [...]

What if there's no life on other planets? Scientists calculate how many exoplanets will tell us

Using advanced statistical tools, researchers explore how even a "failure" in the search for life could offer key answers about our position in the cosmos.Illustration of a hypothetical water-covered planet. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.What would happen if, after decades of exploration, the universe were to prove completely silent? That's the question that motivated a group of researchers led by Dr. Daniel Angerhausen, a physicist at ETH Zurich and…