NASA's Kepler mission ended in 2018 after more than nine years of fruitful planet-hunting.

A pair of researchers at the University of Kent has found that tardigrades are able to survive impacts at speeds of up to 825 meters per second. In their paper published in the journal Astrobiology, Alejandra Traspas and Mark Burchell describe experiments they conducted that involved firing canisters containing tardigrades at high speeds at sand targets.

Has the State of Israel made contact with aliens? According to retired Israeli officer and current professor Haim Eshed, the answer is yes, but this has been kept a secret because "humanity isn't ready."

Astronomers have for the first time discovered water in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting within the habitable zone of a distant star. The finding makes the world - which is called K2-18b - a plausible candidate in the search for alien life.