124 light years from Earth, in the dark vastness of the universe, an alien planet has unveiled a secret that could change our understanding of the cosmos forever. K2-18b, a distant and mysterious world, has shown chemical traces in the atmosphere of two compounds that, on Earth, are produced exclusively by life forms: dimethyl sulphide (DMS) and dimethyl disulphide (DMDS), molecules commonly associated with marine phytoplankton activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This extraordinary discovery was published by the University of Cambridge in The Astrophysical Journal Letters<\/em> and is based on data collected by the space telescope James Webb<\/strong>. According to the researchers, this is the strongest clue ever observed of the possible extraterrestrial life<\/strong> on a planet outside our Solar System.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe results are the strongest evidence yet that life could exist on an extrasolar planet,\u201d says the University of Cambridge team. However, caution remains paramount: further observations will be needed to confirm the biological origin of these organic molecules.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n K2-18b: An Ancient Knowledge, A New Hope<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n K2-18b is not a new name for astronomers. Back in 2016 and 2017, thanks to ESA and NASA's Hubble telescope, it was discovered that this exoplanet is a super Earth<\/em> at habitable area<\/strong> of its star, where oceans of liquid water may exist. Early observations revealed the presence of water vapour, hydrogen and helium in its atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, 2024 had brought a setback: a new study by the University of California at Riverside team, led by Shang-Min Tsai, had cast doubt on previous interpretations, dampening global enthusiasm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But now, as in every great epic tale, hope has resurfaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Footprints of Life: Carbon Molecules on a Distant World<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The group led by Nikku Madhusudhan<\/strong> of the Cambridge Institute of Astronomy, in collaboration with the Space Telescope Science Institute<\/strong> and Cardiff and Birmingham Universities, found new and promising molecular footprints in the atmosphere of K2-18b<\/strong>. For the first time in history, they have been identified carbon-based molecules on an exoplanet in the habitable zone<\/strong>a potential indication of the presence of biological processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Observed concentrations are thousands of times higher than on Earth, and K2-18b is now classified as a \u201cIceano<\/strong>\u201d - ocean worlds with an atmosphere dominated by hydrogen, ideal candidates for the search for life forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One Step from the Miracle, but the Road is Long<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Science, however, demands rigour. At present, the probability that the molecules were produced by non-biological processes cannot be ruled out: the margin of uncertainty is 0.3%. In order to officially speak of a discovery of alien life<\/strong>, the uncertainty must fall to 0.00006%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur work is only the beginning. It is the basis for all future investigations needed to confirm and understand these fascinating findings,\u201d said <\/em>Savvas Constantinou<\/strong>, co-author of the study.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Conclusion: Are We Alone? Maybe Not, But More Data Are Needed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The discovery of organic molecules on K2-18b<\/strong> marks a historic moment in the search for life beyond Earth. If confirmed, this discovery could be the first real window into a extraterrestrial biosphere<\/strong>, radically changing our place in the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n K2-18b is watching us from afar. And, perhaps, in that deep silence, something - or someone - is watching us in turn.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A 124 anni luce dalla Terra, nell\u2019oscura vastit\u00e0 dell\u2019universo, un pianeta alieno ha svelato un segreto che potrebbe cambiare per sempre la nostra comprensione del cosmo. K2-18b, un mondo lontano e misterioso, ha mostrato nell\u2019atmosfera le tracce chimiche di due composti che, sulla Terra, sono prodotti esclusivamente da forme di vita: il solfuro di dimetile […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":11736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":44,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vita-nello-spazio"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starbottle.space\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starbottle.space\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starbottle.space\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starbottle.space\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starbottle.space\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11735"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/starbottle.space\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11737,"href":"https:\/\/starbottle.space\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11735\/revisions\/11737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starbottle.space\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starbottle.space\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starbottle.space\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starbottle.space\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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