Scientists and astronomers announced on Thursday that they have discovered the “strongest evidence yet” of life on a distant planet. A British-U.S. team of astronomers and scientists has discovered “promising hints” of life on the planet K2-18b, which is located 124 light years away from Earth. The researchers using the James Webb Space Telescope team detected two chemicals in K2-18b’s atmosphere. The two chemicals found were dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide, which are biosignatures that hint at extraterrestrial life on the planet. The James Webb Space Telescope has picked up the first ever potential sign of biological life in space. The exoplanet K2-18b, which is 124 light-years away, is believed to be fully covered by water and have large amounts of dimethyl sulfide, a gas only made by living organisms. pic.twitter.com/fUQeLUpNkK — Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 17, 2025 Astronomers claim to have discovered major sign of life on distant planet: ‘First hints we are seeing of an alien world’ https://t.co/9KcwsPnxHP pic.twitter.com/eUO4wPUMhW — New York Post (@nypost) April 17, 2025 Check out what CBS News reported: Astronomers announced Thursday that they had detected the most promising “hints” of potential life on a planet beyond our solar system, though other scientists expressed skepticism. There has been vigorous debate in scientific circles about whether the planet K2-18b, which is 124 light years away in the Leo constellation, could be an ocean world capable of hosting microbial life, at least. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a British-U.S. team of researchers detected signs of two chemicals in the planet’s atmosphere long considered to be “biosignatures” indicating extraterrestrial life. On Earth, the chemicals dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide are produced only by life, mostly microscopic marine algae called phytoplankton. The researchers emphasized caution, saying that more observations were needed to confirm these findings, and that they were not announcing a definitive discovery. No big deal, just a possible sign of life on another planet: “A repeated analysis of the exoplanet’s atmosphere suggests an abundance of a molecule that on Earth has only one known source: living organisms such as marine algae.” https://t.co/V1Md2VmHzT pic.twitter.com/ydkaMBSrEN — Eric Geller (@ericgeller) April 17, 2025 Per The New York Post: Astronomers have discovered a major sign of life — and “the first hints… of an alien world” on a distant planet orbiting outside the solar system, according to a new report. The scientists believe the exoplanet, K2-18b, is a “Hycean planet” — meaning it’s home to an abundance of a life-signifying molecules including one that is only produced on Earth by living organisms such as marine algae, according to a new report. K2-18b — which is eight times the size of Earth and 124 light-years away — shows signs of the unique molecule dimethyl sulfide, according to a new study published in the Astrophysical Journal on Wednesday. “This is a revolutionary moment,” Dr. Nikku Madhusudhan, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge and author of the study, said at a news conference Tuesday, according to NPR. “These are the first hints we are seeing of an alien world that is possibly inhabited,” he claimed. Astronomers detected a possible signature of life on a planet orbiting a star 120 light-years away. https://t.co/VtRgkG5xEa — The New York Times (@nytimes) April 16, 2025