Scientists find hint of alien life on distant world
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
What happened
Astrophysicists reported Wednesday they had found significant evidence that life may exist on a planet called K2-18b, some 124 light years away. The report, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, said NASA's James Webb Space Telescope had detected large amounts of dimethyl sulfide and/or dimethyl disulfide — gasses that on Earth are only created by living organisms — in the exoplanet's atmosphere.
Who said what
Study leader Nikku Madhusudhan, from Cambridge University's Institute of Astronomy, said the new findings point to K2-18b, discovered in 2015, being a "hycean world" covered by a deep ocean "teeming with life." The team didn't prove the existence of alien life, but "this is a revolutionary moment," he said at a news conference. "It's the first time humanity has seen potential biosignatures on a habitable planet."
Other scientists urged caution. A "molecule glimpsed in the air of a planet 729 trillion miles away is a thin reed upon which to rest what would be the historic discovery of alien life," The Washington Post said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
The "rich data from K2-18b make it a tantalizing world," and "I look forward to seeing additional, independent work on the data analysis starting as soon as next week," said planetary scientist Christopher Glein of the Southwest Research Institute in Texas, per The New York Times. But "unless we see E.T. waving at us, it's not going to be a smoking gun."
-
Scott Adams: The cartoonist who mocked corporate lifeFeature His popular comic strip ‘Dilbert’ was dropped following anti-Black remarks
-
The 8 best animated family movies of all timethe week recomends The best kids’ movies can make anything from the apocalypse to alien invasions seem like good, wholesome fun
-
ICE: Now a lawless agency?Feature Polls show Americans do not approve of ICE tactics
-
Moon dust has earthly elements thanks to a magnetic bridgeUnder the radar The substances could help supply a lunar base
-
The ocean is getting more acidic — and harming sharks’ teethUnder the Radar ‘There is a corrosion effect on sharks’ teeth,’ the study’s author said
-
Cows can use tools, scientists reportSpeed Read The discovery builds on Jane Goodall’s research from the 1960s
-
The Iberian Peninsula is rotating clockwiseUnder the radar We won’t feel it in our lifetime
-
NASA discovered ‘resilient’ microbes in its cleanroomsUnder the radar The bacteria could contaminate space
-
The mysterious origin of a lemon-shaped exoplanetUnder the radar It may be made from a former star
-
Blue Origin launches Mars probes in NASA debutSpeed Read The New Glenn rocket is carrying small twin spacecraft toward Mars as part of NASA’s Escapade mission
-
‘The Big Crunch’: why science is divided over the future of the universeThe Explainer New study upends the prevailing theory about dark matter and says it is weakening
