exit to the cosmic rest stop

The allure of alien geysers

Thanks for tuning back into the BeX Files! Pack your space-swimsuit and get ready to splash, because this week we’re running through some extraterrestrial sprinklers.  There are worlds in our solar system, like Saturn’s moon Enceladus and Neptune's moon Triton, that are constantly squirting alien seawater

To the habitable zone—and beyond!

Thanks for tuning back into the BeX Files! This Friday, it’s time to get in the zone—the habitable one, preferably, because I hear the alternative is literally unlivable. As I cover in First Contact, the idea that there might be a region around stars that is most conducive

The science behind the search for alien artifacts

Thanks for tuning back into the BeX Files! Get out your cosmic metal detectors, because this week we return to the tantalizing topic of alien artifacts.  As I wrote in a previous file on xenoarchaeology, few alien tropes are more compelling than the prospect of discovering the material remnants of

Alien fireflies in the dark forest

Thanks for tuning back into the BeX Files! Time to get lit (lit-erally) because this week’s file is about how fireflies can ~illuminate~ the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Humans have been trying to communicate with extraterrestrial beings since we learned to dream up sky deities and skinwalkers (obligatory

Are there aliens in this moon slushy?

Thanks for tuning back into the BeX Files, a newsletter about aliens, humans, dinosaurs, alien humanoid dinosaurs, and more. Happy New Year! I hope you managed to snag the near-mythical “restful” break and welcome to another year of obsessing over 1) Earth and 2) everything else in the universe that

2025: A Banner Year for Aliens

Thanks for tuning back into the BeX Files: Goodbye to 2025 edition.  What an incredible year it’s been for aliens—and therefore the alien-obsessed.  We got possible biosignatures on Mars. We’ve got multiple new releases from legacy alien franchises like Superman, Alien: Earths, and Star Trek: Strange New

How deadly is Mars? Depends on the tardigrade

Thanks for tuning back into the BeX Files! Get your gardening tools and your spelunking gear, because today, we're going to try to inhabit Mars. Mars is the main focal point of modern fantasies about human settlements in space—a planetary canvas that evokes classic frontier tropes due

Aliens invade a book club (and other updates)

Thanks for tuning back into the BeX Files!  It’s a short file today with a few updates and links. To start, I’m excited to announce that First Contact has been selected for the Tompkins County Public Library (TCPL) book club. If you happen to be in central New

Americans Are Becoming More Convinced That Aliens Have Visited Earth

Thanks for tuning back into the BeX Files! This week, it's poll-tested. Let's jump right in: How likely do you think it is that aliens have already visited Earth? And if they have, what are the odds that they’re far more technologically advanced than we

Xenoarcheology: the search for extraterrestrial death

Thanks for tuning back into the BeX Files! Get out your trowels and sieves, because this Friday, we're excavating extraterrestrials.  Few motifs in alien lore are more entrancing than xenoarcheology, the study of unearthing un-Earthlings. This trope has been on my mind lately as I’m replaying Outer

Bugonia and the corporate alien

Thanks for tuning back into the BeX Files! I come in peace.  Before pulling the file for today, I wanted to give a quick heads-up that my website got a much-needed makeover (thanks to Kyle for the help!).  My portfolio is now updated to spotlight some of my favorite recent

So, we’ve discovered alien life. What next?

Thanks for tuning back into the BeX Files. Hope you had a lovely start to November. It will be a short transmission today because I’ve had a busy few months surrounding the publication of my book (ahem, FIRST CONTACT) and I am preparing to switch gears a bit going