This book provides a detailed, state-of-the-art overview of key observational and theoretical aspects of the rapidly developing and highly interdisciplinary field of exoplanet science, as viewed through the lenses of eight world-class experts. It equips readers with a broad understanding of the complex processes driving the formation and the physical and dynamical evolution of planetary systems. It juxtaposes theoretical modeling with the host of techniques that are unveiling the exceptional variety of observed properties of close-in and wide-separation extrasolar planets. By effectively linking ingenious interpretative analyses to the main factors shaping planetary populations, the book ultimately provides the most coherent picture to date of the demographics of exoplanetary systems. It is an essential reference for Ph.D. students and early-stage career researchers, while the scope and depth of its source material also provide excellent cues for graduate-level courses.

Harvard's top astronomer takes us inside the mind-blowing story of the first interstellar visitor to our solar system.

In late 2017, scientists at a Hawaiian observatory glimpsed a strange object soaring through our inner solar system. Astrophysicist Avi Loeb conclusively showed it was not an asteroid; it was moving too fast along a strange orbit, and leaving no trail of gas or debris in its wake. There was only one conceivable explanation: the object was a piece of advanced technology created by a distant alien civilization.

In Extraterrestrial, Loeb takes readers inside the thrilling story of the first interstellar visitor to be spotted in our solar system. He outlines his theory and its profound implications: for science, for religion, and for the future of our planet. A mind-bending journey through the furthest reaches of science, space-time, and the human imagination, Extraterrestrial challenges readers to aim for the stars-and to think critically about what's out there, no matter how strange it seems.

Is the Earth the right model and the only universal key to understand habitability, the origin and maintenance of life? Are we able to detect life elsewhere in the universe by the existing techniques and by the upcoming space missions? This book tries to give answers by focusing on environmental properties, which are playing a major role in influencing planetary surfaces or the interior of planets and satellites. The book gives insights into the nature of planets or satellites and their potential to harbor life. Different scientific disciplines are searching for the clues to classify planetary bodies as a habitable object and what kind of instruments and what kind of space exploration missions are necessary to detect life. Results from model calculations, field studies and from laboratory studies in planetary simulation facilities will help to elucidate if some of the planets and satellites in our solar system as well as in extra-solar systems are potentially habitable for life.

Mysterious lights in the sky. Alien abductions. Government cover-ups. Dedicated ufologists have spent years documenting unexplained phenomena from flying saucers to extraterrestrial life. Uncover the history of UFOs in this illustrated guide, which separates the science fiction from the facts. The mysterious history of flying saucers is explored in-depth, from potential alien visitors as far back as Stonehenge to UFO cults and the secrets of Area 51. Adam Allsuch Boardman details in his signature graphic style the aircraft and artefacts associated with the search for the truth about UFOs.

Thoroughly investigated by a former Army officer and taken from his review of hundreds of historical and government documents and inperson interviews, this book chronicles more than 100 sightings, events, and discoveries of alien encounters, government conspiracy, and the influence of extraterrestrials on human events throughout history. From prehistoric UFO sightings, cave paintings, and ancient astronauts to modern sightings around the world, this book investigates claims of aliens living among us, abductions of humans to alien spacecraft, and accounts of interstellar cooperation since the UFO crash in Roswell, along with evidence of what the government knows and what it has covered up. This discussion of the government secrets, theories, and mysteries surrounding aliens is packed with thoughtprovoking stories and shocking revelations of alien involvement in the lives of Earthlings.

A mighty yet subtle bias favoring life predisposes inanimate entities to elaborate so that some eventually awaken and elaborate as organisms. This multiplex Primal Bias is projected through a "Master System" whose expedients and constraints create avenues of evolutionary development.

Exploring the myths, stories, history and facts of documented encounters, mysterious experiences and unexplained visitors, Real Visitors, Voices From Beyond, and Parallel Dimensions by Brad Steiger and Sherry Hansen Steiger examines the 'other' forms, entities and beings inhabiting our universe. Building on their decades of research into the paranormal, mystical and supernatural, the Steigers analyse the influences and theories behind these mysterious visitors, whether they appear as aliens, ghosts, spirits, angels, demons, monsters or some other form.

The UFO Files digs deep into the government's archives to unravel the true story of Canada's fascinating connection to the UFO phenomenon. Weaving together eyewitness accounts and secret government files, including newly declassified documents, Palmiro Campagna relates some startling episodes in Canadian UFO history; ranging from the revelations made to Wilbert Smith, a Canadian Ministry of Transport engineer, and the unexplained case of Stefan Michalak, whose close encounter with a strange, burning hot craft left him physically scarred. It also explores the United States' so-called "black" program, which may have originated with the Avrocar (also known as the Project Silver Bug), the United States Air Force flying saucer built in Canada.

The Toronto Star noted that The UFO Files provides "a detailed and convincing portrait presented with an astonishing array of archival evidence and photographs." While George Filer, New Jersey State director of the Mutual UFO Network, said this book "is well worth reading and helps unravel the true story of UFOs in Canada."

As Palmiro Campagna demonstrates, the truth is indeed out there.

On a dark winter's night in December 1980 two US airmen who were security guards at a USAF base in Suffolk, England, encountered a mysterious unidentified craft with flashing lights that had landed in the forest outside the perimeter. When the story got out, despite a cover-up and official denials, there were many who saw it as clear evidence our planet was being visited by UFOs from outer space. Skeptics who felt sure that must be a false explanation rushed to offer more earthly suggestions, or to insist the story was quite untrue and the airmen were lying. But they weren't! Years after this strange incident, the actual identity of the "UFO" has become plain and also the purpose for which this weapon was devised. It was needed as a result of an international crisis. Now, author George Wingfield examines the background of these events and also other similar unexplained sightings and encounters with UFOs during that era.

Patterned after the first volume published in 1964, The UFO Evidence, Volume II is much anticipated by the research community. The book reports 30 years of UFO sightings since 1964 with related data and descriptive features organized by category. Among the topics discussed are the now strongly established patterns of UFO sightings, the growing evidence worldwide that UFOs represent someone's technology, the history of government sponsored UFO investigations, and political and human responses to UFO sightings. The master chronology is an incredibly complete listing, which also refers the reader to pertinent sections in the book for fuller descriptions.

This book presents the result of an innovative challenge, to create a systematic literature overview driven by machine-generated content. Questions and related keywords were prepared for the machine to query, discover, collate and structure by Artificial Intelligence (AI) clustering. The AI-based approach seemed especially suitable to provide an innovative perspective as the topics are indeed both complex, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, for example, climate, planetary and evolution sciences. Springer Nature has published much on these topics in its journals over the years, so the challenge was for the machine to identify the most relevant content and present it in a structured way that the reader would find useful. The automatically generated literature summaries in this book are intended as a springboard to further discoverability. They are particularly useful to readers with limited time, looking to learn more about the subject quickly and especially if they are new to the topics. Springer Nature seeks to support anyone who needs a fast and effective start in their content discovery journey, from the undergraduate student exploring interdisciplinary content, to Master- or PhD-thesis developing research questions, to the practitioner seeking support materials, this book can serve as an inspiration, to name a few examples. It is important to us as a publisher to make the advances in technology easily accessible to our authors and find new ways of AI-based author services that allow human-machine interaction to generate readable, usable, collated, research content.

When H.G Wells published his science-fiction classic The War of the Worlds, we were seized by a global fascination with extra-terrestrial life. The age of the alien had begun. In All About Aliens, the truth about alien life is revealed. From the origins of the alien concept from ancient myth right up to our ongoing hunt for cosmic neighbours in the modern day, this book is full of information that will give alien enthusiasts or sceptics plenty to think about. Ever wondered what an alien would really look like? What is the truth behind crop circles and UFO sightings? Is it scientifically possible for other life to exist? Answering these questions and many more, this book takes an honest look at our bug-eyed green friends and distinguishes the sense from the pseudoscience in this easy-to-read book on aliens. The All About series tackles those intriguing topics we all love to think about. All About Aliens takes a close look into that most fascinating of question: are we really alone in the universe?

Mathematics is as much a part of our humanity as music and art. And it is our mathematics that might be understandable, even familiar, to a distant race and might provide the basis for mutual communication. This book discusses, in a conversational way, the role of mathematics in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The author explores the science behind that search, its history, and the many questions associated with it, including those regarding the nature of language and the philosophical/psychological motivation behind this search.

Since the 1950s, there have been men and women around the world claiming to have had contact with human-like visitors from space. This book explores how the ""Contactee"" subculture has critiqued political, social and cultural trends in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Not merely quaint relics of the 1950s Atomic Age, Contactees have continued their messages of political and cultural transformation into the 21st century. Regardless of whether these alleged contacts took the form of physical meetings or channeled paranormal psychic communications, or whether they actually happened at all, Contactees have provided a consistently relevant source of commentary on this world and beyond.