Japan's biggest astronomical observatories are teaming up for an unprecedented quest to find out whether there is life in outer space. The project, led by Japanese astronomers, will bring together a dozen or more observatories from all over the country to study one star that researchers see as a potential home to an extraterrestrial civilization.

We believe that about 62 miles beneath the ice and organic-rich surface is an internal ocean of liquid water mixed with ammonia,"

If extraterrestrial life exists in the solar system, there is a good chance that it will be discovered as frozen remains trapped in a block of ice. Mars’s ice caps are one possible location

Recent experiments showed that a group of bacteria might grow in the moondust. This type of bacteria are called Cyanobacteria. They live like plants do, and appear to florish in the moondust

Nobody knows how life on Earth began, but the primordial soup likely got a lot of its ingredients from space. Scientists have discovered concentrations of amino acids in two meteorites that are more than 10 times higher than levels previously measured in other similar meteorites

The so-called "Doomsday ark" would provide the tools for the reconstruction of the human race in case civilization is ever destroyed, The Sunday London Times reported.

The cosmic stunt marks a small step for man, a giant leap for advertising hype and underlines the desperation of British astronomers to find new sources of funding as they struggle to cope with swingeing cuts that now threaten institutions such as Jodrell Bank

New pictures taken by Nasa's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO) show that the Holden-crater on the red planet once was filled with water. This water has filled the crater with debris and sediments and smaller particles which are called megabreccia.

Mankind will make contact with intelligent alien life within two decades, leading astronomers claim. The recent discovery of Earth-like planets outside our solar system and the launch of a major Nasa mission in 2009 has brought extra-terrestrial contact a dramatic step closer.

EARTH may be staring down the barrel of one of the galaxy's most beautiful and potentially deadly objects. A highly unstable star at the end of its life could unleash a burst of gamma-ray radiation directed straight at Earth