A team led by prof. Nikku Madhusudhan from the University of Cambridge. The exoplanet K2-18 B, discovered in 2015, was considered one of the most serious candidates to find traces of life outside Earth from the beginning. The latest data support this hypothesis even more. The concentrations of these chemical compounds detected are up to a thousand times higher than on Earth, which – according to prof. Madhusudhan – it would be difficult to explain without the participation of biological processes.
As the scholar pointed out:
“This is the strongest proof of biological activity so far outside the solar system. We are very careful. We must ask ourselves whether the signal is real and what it means. In a few decades we can look back at this moment and recognize that the living universe was at your fingertips at the time. This can be a turning point, in which we will suddenly be able to answer the fundamental question whether we are alone in the universe. “
Some scientists cool the mood
Despite the excitement, skeptical voices also appear. Some scientists emphasize that the presence of these relationships does not have to testify to life – their source may be unusual chemical reactions not related to living organisms. What's more, dimeth sulfate was already identified on ice planets, where the conditions are not conducive to the emergence of life. It is also possible that these compounds have been delivered to K2-18 B by comet.
The planet's nature itself remains another puzzle. Due to the huge distance and technological restrictions, it is difficult to clearly determine what is actually on its surface. Some researchers suggest the existence of vast oceans – which could explain the lack of ammonia in the atmosphere – while others indicate the possibility of magma oceans that would completely exclude life in the form we know.
