"European Astrobiology Institutes presents fifty-four original SF Stories and Science Essays on "alien" life on Earth and beyond. Science Fiction stories by award-winning speculative fiction authors and accompanying essays by scientists working on the origins of life, habitability, and life detection. What would life be like if it evolved in a cold ocean beneath an impenetrable shell of ice? Or on a world whose haze obscured any view of the universe beyond? Is there a common template for life, or can we expect to find preciously fragile silicon creatures drifting in seas of liquid nitrogen? How would finding alien life change our society? And many more. Take a journey to the strangest places on our own planet and far beyond it in the galaxy and worlds that are filled with speculative stories and also reflect our understanding and speculation of such places. Each story is followed by a science essay to support understanding of science, interest in the workings of nature and technology, and critical thinking behind such journey and topic introduced in the story. Science Fiction Stories by Eugen Bacon, Gregory Benford, Renan Bernardo, Jana Bianchi, Tobias S. Buckell, Eric Choi, Julie E. Czerneda, Tessa Fisher, Simone Heller, Valentin D. Ivanov, Lisa Jenny Krieg (translated by Simone Heller), Mary Robinette Kowal, Geoffrey A. Landis, Rich Larson, Lucie Luka?ovi?ov�, Premee Mohamed, G. David Nordley, Malka Older, Deji Bryce Olukotun, Tom� Petr�sek, Arula Ratnakar, D.A. Xiaolin Spires, Bogi Tak�cs, Peter Watts, and Liu Yang (translated by Ladon Gao). Science Essays by Jacques Arnould, William Bains, Jos� A. Caballero, Dimitra Demertzi, Martina Dimoska, Tessa Fisher, Dennis H�ning, Valentin D. Ivanov, Fabian Klenner, Nina Kopacz, Geoffrey A. Landis, Natuschka Lee, Ania Losiak, Stephen Francis Mann, Connor Joseph Martini, Tony Milligan, Philippe Nauny, Julie Nov�kov�, Erik Persson, Tom� Petr�sek, Joanna Piotrowska, Giovanni Poggiali, Amedeo Romagnolo, Stefano Sandrelli, Floris van der Tak, Jan Toman, Sheri Wells-Jensen, and Raymond Wheeler; Introduction by Stephen Baxter"--