Nova on PBS this week is about the Kepler space telescope's search for Earth-like planets outside of our solar system. On the Buffalo PBS station, WNED, it's on Wednesday at 9 pm and repeated Thursday at 11:30 pm.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/a...-revealed.html
Tatooine, Vulcan and Other Incredible Planets NASA's Kepler Found Beyond Earth

But are there really lots of Klingons, Romulans, and Wookiees out there where no man has gone before? On one hand, evidence is starting to show there may well be a very large number of rocky planets in the habitable or "Goldilocks" zone, the right distance from their star to be not too hot or too cold.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/11...e-study-finds/
Astronomers using NASA data have calculated for the first time that in our galaxy alone, there are at least 8.8 billion stars with Earth-size planets in the habitable temperature zone.
On the other hand:
http://news.yahoo.com/e-t-seti-finds...010639677.html
Intelligent alien life is likely relatively rare throughout our Milky Way galaxy, with fewer than one in a million solar systems harboring civilizations advanced enough to send out radio signals, a new study reports.

A research team ... surveyed dozens of planet-hosting stars for radio signals from alien civilizations. They turned up nothing.