It's no secret that science fiction writers are fond of rooting their imagined alien lifeforms on theoretical desert planets. These arid worlds have dominated the big screen in major blockbuster franchises like "Dune" and "Star Wars," the former of which is famous for its setting where deadly sandworms lurk beneath the surface. Unfortunately, however, fans hoping for such signs of life on desert worlds will probably be disappointed — at least, that's according to recent research conducted by NASA.
The barren, parched landscape of Arrakis, where the central plot of "Dune" takes place, is teeming with thousands of deadly sandworms that live in the desert. However, even on desert planets in so-called habitable zones around their stars — where scientists predict extraterrestrial species could have evolved because it isn't too hot nor too cold for a world to host some liquid water — life is unlikely to survive.
