Scientists find strongest evidence yet of life on an alien planet

The Manila Times

Scientists find strongest evidence yet of life on an alien planet  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, namely dimethyl sulfide (DMS), and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), were identified in the observations of the planet named K2-18 b and are only generated on Earth by living organisms, primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton, or 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 bio-signature - an indicator of a biological process - and that the findings should be viewed cautiously, with more observations needed.  REUTERS / NASA'S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTRE / A. SMITH, N. MADHUSUDHAN (UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE) / NASA/ESA/J. ANDERSON AND R. VAN DER MAREL (STSCI) / NASA/ESA/HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM / NASA TV / HUDF TEAM  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe    Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes #tmtnews #aliens  #space

Transcript

00:00We have found evidence for possible biological activity on an exoplanet.

00:08We have found signs of biosignature molecules, either DMS or DMDS or both,

00:16both of which are produced uniquely by life here on Earth

00:20and have been predicted to be biosignatures on planets around other stars as well.

00:26And we found the strongest evidence to date on a biosignature molecule,

00:33in this case a combination, potentially around another star outside the solar system.

00:39And that is a major breakthrough in our search for life beyond the solar system.

00:49Not only that there is a chance that the planet can actually be habitable,

00:55but what we are finding is that we are demonstrating that it is possible to detect biosignatures

01:03in atmospheres of such planets around nearby stars with existing facilities.

01:09And that's a big breakthrough.

01:11Currently, the only scenario that explains all the observations, in other words,

01:15detections of methane and carbon dioxide, non-detection of ammonia and carbon monoxide,

01:20and now possible detection of these molecules means that based on our current understanding,

01:25the only scenario that explains all of this is one where it's a Haitian world that is teeming with life.

01:31And what is a Haitian world? It's an ocean-covered surface with a thin hydrogen-rich atmosphere,

01:37and the ocean being habitable.

01:39So that is the only scenario which can currently explain all the observations together.

01:44However, we want to remain open to other alternatives one might come up with in the future.

01:56This moment in history of science will be viewed as a paradigm shift in our search for life,

02:00and the reason for that is that we have breached the level where we are demonstrating that if there is life out there,

02:09if there are Haitian worlds out there, there is ocean worlds with hydrogen atmospheres with life on them,

02:15we are basically establishing here that we can detect that kind of signature,

02:21those kinds of planets and biosignatures in them.

02:25So that is a paradigm shift in our understanding.

02:28This is a monumental discovery.

02:31It is very important, but we also have to be extremely cautious.

02:35The reason is that this is one of the biggest questions we have asked as a species in all of science,

02:41and we have to deal with it very carefully in that we want to be really, really robust in establishing

02:46whether this is actually life that we are seeing.

02:49We want two things.

02:50We want more observations to confirm that this signal is robust.

02:53We are seeing it at a three sigma level.

02:56We still have three in a thousand chance of it being a fluke.

02:59So we want to observe more to get it to a five sigma level, less than a chance in a million,

03:03a part in a million of a fluke.

03:06But we also want to do more theoretical and observational studies to make sure that there is absolutely no other way we can make this molecule without life.

03:15I think it is our responsibility as scientists and as part of a society that we want to answer this very deep question in a very careful and robust manner.

03:24But the excitement is still there nevertheless that we've got the capability to do it now.

03:29We'll be right back to the next session.

03:30We'll see you later.

03:31And we'll see you later.

03:32We'll see you later.

03:33Bye-bye.

03:59You

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