NEWSWEEK - Scientists say they may have detected signs of biological activity on a planet outside our solar system, in what some describe as the "strongest evidence" so far in the ongoing search for life beyond Earth.
"This is a question humanity has been asking for thousands of years, and if you're witnessing it for the first time, it is a shock to the system," said Professor Nikku Madhusudhan, an astrophysicist and lead-author of the study. "And it takes a while to recover from that, from the enormity of it."
The discovery centers on K2-18b, an exoplanet more than 120 light-years away, where astronomers have identified chemical compounds in its atmosphere that, on Earth, are only produced by life.
While the findings are not conclusive, they mark a potentially significant step forward in astrobiological research.
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Despite the excitement, researchers and outside experts urged restraint. Edward Schwieterman, an astrobiologist at the University of California, Riverside, said, "It is not a sure thing." He added: "It would not be surprising if the signal went away when other groups reanalyzed the data."