Extraterrestrials May Exist 124 Light-Years Away... Existence Could Be Confirmed as Early as Next Year

Cambridge University Research Team Discovers
124 Light-Years Away: "Possible Abundance of Life"

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A claim has been made that there is a high possibility of extraterrestrial life existing on an exoplanet located about 124 light-years from Earth. According to the research team, the exact date when this can be confirmed is expected to be known within one to two years.

On April 17 (local time), according to the BBC and The Mirror in the United Kingdom, a research team from the University of Cambridge discovered traces of chemicals produced on Earth on the exoplanet K2-18b using the James Webb Space Telescope. The researchers asserted that this is "the strongest evidence yet for extraterrestrial life."

It has been reported that the substances dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) were detected on this planet. On Earth, these substances are mainly produced by phytoplankton in marine environments and have been used as indicators of biological activity on planets outside the solar system.

Nikku Madhusudhan, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, said, "I was extremely surprised to detect such a large amount of gases during a single observation period, and our estimated amounts of DMS and DMDS in the atmosphere are thousands of times greater than those on Earth." He added, "If the association between these gases and life forms is true, this planet could be teeming with life."

Meanwhile, this exoplanet, located outside the solar system, is 8.6 times heavier than Earth and has a diameter 2.6 times greater. The observation results reached the '3 sigma' threshold for statistical significance, which means there is a 0.3% probability that this was observed by chance. For the findings to be recognized as a scientific discovery, the results must exceed the '5 sigma' threshold, which corresponds to a probability of less than 0.00006% that the observation occurred by chance.

Professor Madhusudhan stated, "Decades from now, we may look back on this moment as the time when a living universe came into view," and added, "This could be the moment when we are able to answer the fundamental question, 'Are we alone in the universe?'"