Scientists Believe Distant Planet Has 99.7% Chance of Life: ‘Strongest Evidence Yet’

• Researchers at Cambridge University’s Institute of Astronomy believe that there is a 99.7% chance of life on K2-18b, a large planet located 700 trillion miles from Earth
• They have found evidence of molecules associated with life on Earth in the planet’s atmosphere after analyzing data provided by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
• There is still great debate about the claim, with questions about the makeup of K2-18b

Scientists believe they might have discovered evidence of life on a planet 700 trillion miles away from Earth.

K2-18b, a planet more than double the size of Earth that orbits a distant red sun, is at the center of a growing debate as researchers at Cambridge University’s Institute of Astronomy dissect early evidence supporting the claim of life there.

Led by Prof. Nikku Madhusudhan, the scientists have analyzed data provided by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope — a $10 billion instrument that was launched beyond the atmosphere in December 2021 and has taken breathtaking photos of deep space.

The data has provided insight into the planet’s atmosphere, resulting in the new hypothesis, according to the BBC.

They have found strong evidence that the planet’s atmosphere seems to contain “the chemical signature of at least one of two molecules that are associated with life.” The BBC reported that on Earth, these two gases are produced by marine phytoplankton and bacteria.

The outlet noted that there has previously been evidence of the molecules in K2-18b’s atmosphere. However, this time the claim is much stronger, and the researchers now believe that there is a 99.7% chance of life on the planet.

“This is the strongest evidence yet there is possibly life out there. I can realistically say that we can confirm this signal within one to two years,” Madhusudhan told the BBC. “Decades from now, we may look back at this point in time and recognize it was when the living universe came within reach.”

Madhusudhan noted that the level of gas on K2-18b is “thousands of times higher than what we have on Earth,” meaning that it could be “teeming with life.”

“If we confirm that there is life on K2-18b it should basically confirm that life is very common in the galaxy,” he added.

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While 99.7% certainty seems impressive, the scientific community will not seriously consider this as proof of life until the team can say that they are 99.99999% positive with their research.

This means that this is still an early discovery which will need additional research. Even Madhusudhan told the BBC that there is still more work to be done.

Their findings have resulted in additional questions. Prof. Catherine Heymans told the BBC that researchers will need to answer “the question of what is the origin of this gas.”

“On Earth it is produced by microorganisms in the ocean, but even with perfect data we can’t say for sure that this is of a biological origin on an alien world because loads of strange things happen in the Universe and we don’t know what other geological activity could be happening on this planet that might produce the molecules,” she explained.

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Prof. Oliver Shorttle also told the outlet that the JWST, while better than anything researchers have used before, is still difficult to decipher.

“Everything we know about planets orbiting other stars comes from the tiny amounts of light that glance off their atmospheres. So it is an incredibly tenuous signal that we are having to read, not only for signs of life, but everything else,” Shorttle said.

This leads to questions about “the structure of the planet,” he said.

It is possible that K2-18b might have water on it, or the planet might also be made of molten rock. Dr. Nicolas Wogan has even hypothesized that it is actually “a mini gas giant with no surface,” according to the BBC.