The intricate path to life identification

Nature Astronomy, Published online: 21 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41550-026-02883-w Recent advances from exoplanetary atmospheric characterization and sample return are ushering the search for life into a data-rich but more complex era. Accounting for false positives and negatives and defining the abiotic baseline will be crucial to interpreting increasingly ambiguous biosignatures.