NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope has found potential evidence of life on the distant planet K2-18b, about 700 trillion miles from Earth, Anadolu Agency reported. A Cambridge University team led by Prof. Nikku Madhusudhan detected molecules in the planet\u2019s atmosphere that on Earth are produced by simple organisms like marine phytoplankton and bacteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though promising, the findings\u2014published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters\u2014require more data for confirmation. Current confidence stands at 99.7%, below the near-100% certainty needed to confirm life. The team expects to confirm the signal within one to two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Experts caution that even with high certainty, the molecules\u2019 origin could be geological rather than biological. The discovery marks a significant step in the search for extraterrestrial life and may be a tipping point in answering whether we are alone in the universe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope has found potential evidence of life on the distant planet K2-18b, about 700 trillion miles from Earth, Anadolu Agency reported. A Cambridge University team led by Prof. Nikku Madhusudhan detected molecules in the planet\u2019s atmosphere that on Earth are produced by simple organisms like marine phytoplankton and bacteria. Though promising, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":122524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[13641,13640],"class_list":["post-122523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-james-webb-telescope","tag-possible-signs-of-life-on-distant-planet"],"yoast_head":"\n