As technology advances, exoplanets are a new hot spot for the search for life. Techniques for studying planets around other stars are advancing all the time. Along with those advancements come new ways to look for possible signs of life on those planets. Learn more about how astronomers search for alien life on exoplanets. Pictured: An artist’s concept of exoplanet K2-18 b, where researchers think they might have found signs of potential biosignatures methane and carbon-dioxide. Image credit: NASA et al.

We’re searching for alien life, but are aliens searching for us? SETI (the search for extraterrestrial intelligence) involves looking for signals sent from advanced beings beyond our Solar System, whereas METI (messaging extraterrestrial intelligence) takes it a step further, actively sending signs of our existence out into the Universe. Learn more about how we do SETI and METI, and what it might mean to our species if we succeed.