@cbsnews: 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. The researchers emphasized caution, saying that more observations were needed to confirm these findings, and that they were not announcing a definitive discovery. However, the implications could be huge, according to Nikku Madhusudhan, a Cambridge University astrophysicist and lead author of the study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Madhusudhan told BBC News that he hopes to obtain the clinching evidence soon. "This is the strongest evidence yet there is possibly life out there," he said. "I can realistically say that we can confirm this signal within one to two years." Go to the link for more. #space #jameswebb #spacenews #planet #alien #science

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Thursday 17 April 2025 12:35:59 GMT