Astronomers at the University of Cambridge believe that they have found credible evidence of alien life on another planet.
A new report says they have found ‘the first hints of an alien world’ on a planet that orbits the solar system. It is an exoplanet called K2-18b and the scientists believe that it is ‘Hycean planet’, which means it is home to an abundance of life signifying molecules.
These molecules are only knowingly produced on earth by living organisms like marine algae. It is eight times the size of Earth and 124 light years away from our planet.
K2-18b shows signs of the unique molecule dimethyl sulfide, according to a new study published in the Astrophysical Journal on Wednesday.
“This is a revolutionary moment,” Dr. Nikku Madhusudhan, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge and author of the study, said at a news conference Tuesday, according to NPR.
“These are the first hints we are seeing of an alien world that is possibly inhabited,” he claimed.
The team led by Madhusudhan took atmospheric measurements of the dimethyl sulfide on K2-18b in 2023 and then used the James Webb Telescope to confirm the overwhelming presence of the molecules.
“It is a shock to the system,” Madhusudhan said at the press event. “We spent an enormous amount of time just trying to get rid of the signal.”
Some scientists are being more cautious
Despite the undisputed measurements of the life-sustaining elements, some scientists said more information and confirmation are needed before a consensus around life on K2-18b can be confirmed.
“It’s not nothing,” Johns Hopkins University planetary scientist Stephen Schmidt told the New York Times. “It’s a hint. But we cannot conclude it’s habitable yet.”
“Unless we see E.T. waving at us, it’s not going to be a smoking gun,” Christopher Glein, planetary scientist at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, told the outlet.
This news was originally published on this post .
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