What if there was a museum that contained every type of life form in the universe? This experience takes you on a tour through the possible forms alien life might take, from the eerily familiar to the utterly exotic, ranging from the inside of the Earth to the most hostile corners of the universe. New research is upending our idea of life and where it could be hiding: not just on Earth-like planets, where beings could mimic what our planet has produced, but in far flung places like the hearts of dead stars and the rings of gas giant planets. Nowhere in the universe is off limits. Only when we know what else is out there will we truly know ourselves. This thought experiment will give us a glimpse into what could be out there, how we might find it, and just how far nature’s imagination might stretch.
