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Scientists find strongest evidence yet of life on an alien planet

NOLA Dude

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WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) - 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 - dimethyl sulfide, or DMS, and dimethyl disulfide, or DMDS - involved in Webb's observations of the planet named K2-18 b are generated on Earth by living organisms, primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton - 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 biosignature - an indicator of a biological process - and that the findings should be viewed cautiously, with more observations needed.
Nonetheless, they voiced excitement. These are the first hints of an alien world that is possibly inhabited, said astrophysicist Nikku Madhusudhan of the University of Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy, lead author of the study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Very exciting discovery! I'm curious what else they can find out about this planet. The James Webb Telescope seems to be opening doors we never had access to. Exciting times!
 
No, they didn't. The study was flawed. Like the previous study they did on the same planet. If anything, it shows that more powerful telescopes will be needed to study the planet. What it found was also found on a exo-comet. So, no life, just yet.
 
The study was flawed according to who?
 
NOLA Dude said:
Very exciting discovery! I'm curious what else they can find out about this planet. The James Webb Telescope seems to be opening doors we never had access to. Exciting times!
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Hold that thought.

'It's extremely worrisome.' NASA's James Webb Space Telescope faces potential 20% budget cut just 4 years after launch

Such a dramatic cut to a flagship space telescope still in its prime will be felt across the mission's entire operations, affecting science.
www.space.com
 
X Factor said:
I’m going to badly paraphrase a quote I’ve seen somewhere before: there are only two possibilities; life exists on other planets or it doesn’t and I find both possibilities staggering.
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Trillions of stars out there with trillions of planets orbiting them. Other life is out there somewhere but we need lightyears better telescopes to locate it.
And due to the great distances, it's also highly likely that by the time we locate organic life, it's already gone extinct as we are literally looking into the past.
 
It is far, far more likely than not ours is not the only planet with intelligent life forms (excluding MAGAts, of course).
 
X Factor said:
I’m going to badly paraphrase a quote I’ve seen somewhere before: there are only two possibilities; life exists on other planets or it doesn’t and I find both possibilities staggering.
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I think highly unlikely that out of 100 billion to 200 billion galaxies that Earth is the only place that has life.
 
This is very interesting but it also needs more research.
I think the scientist involved has the right mind set.

But Madhusudhan still urged caution.

"First, we need to repeat the observations two to three times to make sure the signal we are seeing is robust and to increase the detection significance" to the level at which the odds of a statistical fluke are below roughly one in a million, Madhusudhan said.

"Second, we need more theoretical and experimental studies to make sure whether or not there is another abiotic mechanism (one not involving biological processes) to make DMS or DMDS in a planetary atmosphere like that of K2-18 b. Even though previous studies have suggested them (as) robust biosignatures even for K2-18 b, we need to remain open and pursue other possibilities," Madhusudhan said.

So the findings represent "a big if" on whether the observations are due to life, and it is in "no one's interest to claim prematurely that we have detected life," Madhusudhan said.
 
NOLA Dude said:
This one person claims that. Is he an authority on this subject? He barely looks old enough to have finished college.

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It's really weird, but Newton invented Calculus in his mid-20s. And, last year's Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry went to a 38 year old. There's all types of individuals that earn great accomplishments at all ages. Tolkien, didn't become Tolkien, until his late 40s. Imagine going that long in life to not experience any success and them boom! LoTR! In your 40's cemented your legacy for generations to come.
 
Hope that the life on other planets are at least intelligent, because.....................

 
I don't think Christopher Glein is winning any Nobel Prizes.
 
NOLA Dude said:
I don't think Christopher Glein is winning any Nobel Prizes.
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Yeah, you're right in a way. Considering they are saying that the planet is likely not a ocean world like with what we have on Earth. So, he wouldn't be able to tell. Plus, a lot of 'experts' don't want to claim that life exists on other planets because of some bias reason of theirs.

To tell you the truth. I do believe they found life on that planet. They did the study of the atmosphere twice in a year and found stronger evidence. There's a reason for that. Cause life is there. Too bad it is far away from us.
 
NOLA Dude said:
I think highly unlikely that out of 100 billion to 200 billion galaxies that Earth is the only place that has life.
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You think it's highly unlikely based on what statistical data?
 
Cautious optimism. I like the take.
 
DMS is found in lagers.
Very off-putting.
Need to ramp up temps so yeast eat DMS.
 
Hopefully intelligent life in other galaxies rebuke MAGA.
 
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