Astronomers mention the possibility of increasing life on the remote K2-18B planet

A team of astronomers led by Cambridge University Suppose they are closer to a scientific discovery with a statistically significant that would show the signs of life they discovered from the distant external planets called “K2-18B” is not a coincidence.

Astronomers have used data from the James Web telescope for space, which has been under use only since the end of 2021, to detect chemical effects from Methilt sulfide (DMS) and/or DMDS dual sulfide second, which they say can only be produced through life such as plant cells in the sea. According to the university, “the results are the strongest evidence so far that life may exist on a planet outside our solar system.”

The results were published this week in Astronomical Physics Magazine messages He referred to the possibility of an ocean on the surface of this planet, which scientists had hoped to discover for years. In the summary of the paper, the team says: “The possibility of Hycean worlds, with the oceans at the planet level and the H2 atmosphere, has expanded significantly and the search for housing environments elsewhere.”

However, not everyone agrees that what the team found proves that there is life on the outer planets.

Science author and founder of OpenMind Corey S. Powell Posted on BlueskyAnd writing, “The potential discovery of strange life is so attractive that it pulls even a good reputation outlets in running a naive or explicit misleading stories.”

Powell wrote: “Here we go again with Planet K2-18B. Mother …. There is strong evidence of non-biological sources of the DMS molecule.”

K2-18B is 124 years old and much greater than the ground (more than eight times our mass), but younger than Neptune. The search for basic signs of life on a planet like this increases the chances of more planets such as Earth that may be from housing, with temperatures and atmosphere that can maintain a human -like life. The team behind the paper hopes to help more study with the James Web telescope in confirming their initial results.

More research to go

Christopher Glenn, the geyicimi scientist and planetary research, says this research is still an early step in this process, and this research is still an early step in this process. He says that excitement about the importance of research must be mitigated.

“We need to be careful here,” said Galin. “It seems that something in the data cannot be explained, and DMS/DMDS can provide an explanation. But this detection extends the limits of JWST.”

“More work is needed to test whether these molecules are already. We also need complementary research to assess the biological background on the K2-18B and similar planets. That is, the chemistry that can occur in the absence of life in this environment that is likely to be strange. We may see evidence of some cold chemistry rather than life.”

the TRAPPIST-1 PlanetsGlenn said that it is possible that it is likely to be valid for housing, as it is LHS 1140b“It is” another important outdoor planet, which may be the huge ocean world. “

As for K2-18B, he says that many tests need to make consensus on the life on them.

“Find evidence for life is like to sue a case in the courtroom,” said Glenn. “There are needed multiple independent lines of evidence to persuade the jury, in this case the scientific community around the world.”

“If this discovery holds, this step 1,” he said.