Is there alien life out there?

And how would we prove it?

It's Monday, January 15th, but even in a galaxy far, far away, it's Science Friday.

Thank you. Far far away, it's Science Friday. I'm SciFri producer Charles Burgquist.

It's a question that's come to anyone who's gazed into an endless night sky full of stars.

Are we alone?

Some people believe there's life elsewhere in the universe. Some people say it's already

visited Earth. But how would you go about proving it one way or another without an alien landing

on the Hoyt House lawn? Dr. Adam Frank, author of The Little Book of Aliens, joins Ira Flato

and Kathleen Davis to talk about the scientific search for extraterrestrial life.

And now it's time to talk aliens.

Ah, creatures from another planet are so part of our culture.

I love that theremin music from the day the Earth stood still.

It's a great movie.

And, you know, they appear everywhere, aliens and movies, books, comics, you name it.

And actually, words like UFOs or the modern government phrasing, UAPs, unexplained aerial phenomena. I'm still not used to that

phraseology. They're both science and science fiction, aren't they, Kathleen? Yeah, and we have

been fascinated with the question of alien life being somewhere out in the stars for decades,

I mean, even centuries. And so now with congressional hearings into Navy pilots sightings of strange things,

the search for intelligent life is getting a more serious treatment. And so how do we, as a

culture, think about alien life with an open mind? Yes. And joining us to talk about the search

for intelligent life and how we might find

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