Are We Alone, or Just Early?

For most of human history, the question of life beyond Earth belonged to philosophy and speculation. That is changing. A growing catalog of exoplanets, improved instruments, and a more rigorous search for biosignatures are turning an old question into an active field of research.

None of this means an answer is close. It means the question is finally answerable — and that shift, from myth to method, may be the more interesting story.