Elon Musk has turned a long-running joke about being an extraterrestrial into a central part of his public persona, even as he argues that humanity may be the only intelligent life in the universe. His latest comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos ...

Scientists are listening in on sperm whale conversations and studying Earth's strangest microbes to prepare humanity for first contact with extraterrestrial life.

By studying Earth's toughest microbes and complex animal "speech", scientists are reshaping how we search for – and may someday talk to – alien life.