Top 2025 Leiden Science Reads: ET Life, AI & More

Speculation about alien life, a new nitrogen map, AI as a thesis supervisor, groundbreaking telescopes and multi-million-euro investments to combat antimicrobial resistance - the diversity of these topics shows that our readers are just as broadly interested as our researchers. Discover the most-read articles of 2025 here.

Artistic illustration of TOI 700 d, an Earth-size exoplanet in the so-called habitable zone of its parent star. Exoplanet research has been driving heightened expectations with the search for life elsewhere.
Artistic impression of TOI 700 d, an Earth-sized exoplanet located in the so-called habitable zone of its parent star.

#1 Extraterrestrial life: examining speculation and expectations

Research into nearly 30 years of communication about astrobiology shows how both press releases and media speculate about alien life. And it's not just journalists who do so…

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