Scientists find strongest evidence yet of life on an alien planet

Scientists find strongest evidence yet of life on an alien planet

In a potential landmark discovery, scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have obtained what they call the strongest signs yet of possible life beyond our solar system, detecting in an alien planet's atmosphere the chemical fingerprints of gases that on Earth are produced only by biological processes.

The two gases, namely dimethyl sulfide (DMS), and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), were identified in the observations of the planet named K2-18 b and are only generated on Earth by living organisms, primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton, or algae.

This suggests the planet may be teeming with microbial life, the researchers said. They stressed, however, that they are not announcing the discovery of actual living organisms but rather a possible bio-signature - an indicator of a biological process - and that the findings should be viewed cautiously, with more observations needed.

REUTERS / NASA'S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTRE / A. SMITH, N. MADHUSUDHAN (UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE) / NASA/ESA/J. ANDERSON AND R. VAN DER MAREL (STSCI) / NASA/ESA/HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM / NASA TV / HUDF TEAM

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