China's most popular science fiction writer, Cixin Liu, brings his spectacular trilogy to an end

It's a good time to be an alien hunter. In August astronomers discovered Proxima b, a potentially life-supporting planet only 4.2 light-years away. Not long after, news surfaced of a possible signal coming from HD164595, a star in the Hercules constellation, first noticed by Russian scientists in 2015. Then there's KIC 8462852, better known as Tabby's Star, a body whose inexplicable light fluctuations have inspired a rash of speculation. Are we finally going to learn that we're not alone?