Distant planet shows "strongest evidence yet" of potential extraterrestrial life

What just happened? It's one of humanity's oldest questions: are we alone in the universe? A team of researchers has found new evidence that there may be life on a planet two and a half times the size of Earth in another solar system. But don't get too excited just yet. A team of Cambridge researchers studying the atmosphere of a planet called K2-18b discovered chemical signatures of dimethyl sulphide (DMS) and dimethyl disulphide (DMDS). The molecules are tied to biological life, produced by marine phytoplankton and bacteria here on Earth. The amount of this gas detected during an observation window was thousands of times higher than what we have on Earth, lead researcher Prof Nikku Madhusudhan told the BBC. While the find is exciting, more data is required to ensure the results are accurate. "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," said Madhusudhan. The discovery was ma ... Read full article.