Astronomers may have found the strongest hint of life beyond Earth thanks to new data from the James Webb Space Telescope.
They’ve detected sulfur-based molecules in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b that, on Earth, are only produced by living organisms. While the evidence isn’t conclusive yet, it matches predictions for a “Hycean” world — one potentially covered in oceans and capable of hosting microbial life. If further observations confirm these findings, it could mark a turning point in our search for extraterrestrial life.
Possible Biosignature Found on Distant Exoplanet
Astronomers have found the most compelling potential signs of life yet beyond our solar system — but they’re interpreting the results with caution.
Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team led by the University of Cambridge has identified possible traces of the molecules dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b. This planet orbits within the habitable zone of its star, where conditions might allow liquid water to exist.
Earth-Like Clues from Alien Atmosphere
On Earth, both DMS and DMDS are produced exclusively by living organisms — mainly microbes like marine phytoplankton. Although it’s possible these molecules on K2-18b could come from unknown non-biological processes, their presence offers the strongest indication so far that life might exist on a planet outside our solar system.
The findings have reached what’s known as a “three-sigma” level of statistical confidence. This means there’s a 0.3% chance the signal is a fluke. For a scientific discovery to be considered confirmed, however, it must reach “five-sigma” significance—less than a 0.00006% chance of being due to random variation.
More Telescope Time Could Seal the Deal
The researchers say between 16 and 24 hours of follow-up observation time with JWST may help them reach the all-important five-sigma significance. Their results are reported in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Earlier observations of K2-18b — which is 8.6 times as massive and 2.6 times as large as Earth, and lies 124 light years away in the constellation of Leo — identified methane and carbon dioxide in its atmosphere. This was the first time that carbon-based molecules were discovered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet in the habitable zone. Those results were consistent with predictions for a ‘Hycean’ planet: a habitable ocean-covered world underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere.
A Hint That Sparked a Closer Look
However, another, weaker signal hinted at the possibility of something else happening on K2-18b. “We didn’t know for sure whether the signal we saw last time was due to DMS, but just the hint of it was exciting enough for us to have another look with JWST using a different instrument,” said Professor Nikku Madhusudhan from Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy, who led the research.
To determine the chemical composition of the atmospheres of faraway planets, astronomers analyse the light from its parent star as the planet transits, or passes in front of the star as seen from the Earth. As K2-18b transits, JWST can detect a drop in stellar brightness, and a tiny fraction of starlight passes through the planet’s atmosphere before reaching Earth. The absorption of some of the starlight in the planet’s atmosphere leaves imprints in the stellar spectrum that astronomers can piece together to determine the constituent gases of the exoplanet’s atmosphere.
New Instruments, Stronger Evidence
The earlier, tentative, inference of DMS was made using JWST’s NIRISS (Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph) and NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instruments, which together cover the near-infrared (0.8-5 micron) range of wavelengths. The new, independent observation used JWST’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) in the mid-infrared (6-12 micron) range.
“This is an independent line of evidence, using a different instrument than we did before and a different wavelength range of light, where there is no overlap with the previous observations,” said Madhusudhan. “The signal came through strong and clear.”
“It was an incredible realisation seeing the results emerge and remain consistent throughout the extensive independent analyses and robustness tests,” said co-author Måns Holmberg, a researcher at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, USA.
Possible Biosignatures: DMS and DMDS Explained
DMS and DMDS are molecules from the same chemical family, and both are predicted to be biosignatures. Both molecules have overlapping spectral features in the observed wavelength range, although further observations will help differentiate between the two molecules.
However, the concentrations of DMS and DMDS in K2-18b’s atmosphere are very different than on Earth, where they are generally below one part per billion by volume. On K2-18b, they are estimated to be thousands of times stronger, over ten parts per million.
Hycean Worlds Could Host Life After All
“Earlier theoretical work had predicted that high levels of sulfur-based gases like DMS and DMDS are possible on Hycean worlds,” said Madhusudhan. “And now we’ve observed it, in line with what was predicted. Given everything we know about this planet, a Hycean world with an ocean that is teeming with life is the scenario that best fits the data we have.”
Madhusudhan says that while the results are exciting, it’s vital to obtain more data before claiming that life has been found on another world. He says that while he is cautiously optimistic, there could be previously unknown chemical processes at work on K2-18b that may account for the observations. Working with colleagues, he is hoping to conduct further theoretical and experimental work to determine whether DMS and DMDS can be produced non-biologically at the level currently inferred.
A Profound Scientific Puzzle Unfolds
“The inference of these biosignature molecules poses profound questions concerning the processes that might be producing them,” said co-author Subhajit Sarkar of Cardiff University.
“Our work is the starting point for all the investigations that are now needed to confirm and understand the implications of these exciting findings,” said co-author Savvas Constantinou, also from Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy.
“It’s important that we’re deeply sceptical of our own results, because it’s only by testing and testing again that we will be able to reach the point where we’re confident in them,” Madhusudhan said. “That’s how science has to work.”
A Historic Step Toward Answering: Are We Alone?
While he is not yet claiming a definitive discovery, Madhusudhan says that with powerful tools like JWST and future planned telescopes, humanity is taking new steps toward answering that most essential of questions: are we alone?
“Decades from now, we may look back at this point in time and recognise it was when the living universe came within reach,” said Madhusudhan. “This could be the tipping point, where suddenly the fundamental question of whether we’re alone in the universe is one we’re capable of answering.”
Reference: “New Constraints on DMS and DMDS in the Atmosphere of K2-18 b from JWST MIRI” by Nikku Madhusudhan, Savvas Constantinou, Måns Holmberg, Subhajit Sarkar, Anjali A. A. Piette and Julianne I. Moses, 17 April 2025, The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/adc1c8
The James Webb Space Telescope is a collaboration between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The research is supported by a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Frontier Research Grant.
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104 Comments
Presumably liquid water has been detected in the “ocean”. But, what’s important is the presence of organic matter (amino acids and proteins) from cellular materials emitting these chemical “signals” of life.
“While the evidence isn’t conclusive yet” and it never will be.
more fantasy by little kid scientist. science lost credibility in the 1990’s when they started giving out diplomas to people with “D” averages
in 3yrs of reading scitech daily there has been 3 articles with positive findings the thousands of other stories have been maybe might possibly negative hypothesis’s
nothing proven with repeatable experiment, everything conjecture and BS.
that’s the truth now, fake fantasy’s written up and the best story given the track lmao at fake science!
Remember: Albert Einstein got a “C” in Chemistry.
I don’t care if you a million planets with purple little men. It would change nothing.
There is nothing the Lord can’t do, nothing…
Of course we are not alone! Just look at all the Black Ops that are recovering NHI (non-human intelligence) craft and entities. People need to pay closer attention to what’s going on.
Except the Lord can’t show up like even normal people can do. And in his book he shows he doesn’t have a clue about the earth, the sun, and the moon that he supposedly created.
Why are you even reading science news then? Just to comment ur idiocy for us nerds to see? We don’t care. Go back to Instagram or reddit.
Lol. Prove it.
So why are you interested in the fact!?
Are they threatening your magic notions?
Amen
If there is life there, we should leave it alone, we already ruined the planet we’re on, we shouldn’t ruin someone else’s. Luckily, it’s far enough away that we shouldn’t be able to reach it!!
Yes we are alone. In our galactic neighborhood. If there is evolved intelligent life in our galaxy which is entirely possible- they cant travel the astronomical distance for the same reasons we cannot. Physiology. Technology. Logistics.
Let’s go see.
Maybe they don’t use our archaic methods of space travel and are far more superior technologically or are millions of more years evolved than humans?.Perhaps, we couldn’t get to the …but they can get to us….
Wow not much science talk
…stupid to even mention when more and more of his hypothesis are turning into discovered facts.
Omg agnostic here Jesus is not God, he is the son of God. Jesus doesn’t start with G neither does his last name Christ it doesn’t start with G I believe I’m God help my community and God chose me like he chose his son for great things you Christians need to STOP fighting with your own dammed people and start helping your people, “for God’s sake stop destroying humanity bc they don’t believe our ways of God, Mary, Joseph, and, Jesus I k ow a crap ton the church will deny but is true but, I don’t care to tell. I would rather our Christian society stop fighting with themselves and other establishments that came before Christ like gnostic’s, agnostic’s, apostolic’s, bhudist’s, norse pagan’s celtic’s, romainian’s Roman’s Catholic’s and help people realize history isn’t all Myth because the moment you say *huh* *God’s Devil’s Ghost’s Spirit’s aren’t real your being contradictive* if Jesus was son of God and he were in front of you and you said to him Gods not real you should be mindfully graceful, and careful with what you say to other people who don’t know what you mean whether it’s true or not. Truth is truth it’s not always kind it’s always good but truth can hurt too soo, stop saying Vikings, Norse Pagans, Celtics, Roman’s. Romanian’s Jew’s are evil. They are not they are just different Traditions please and thank you and true Power is not enforcement of religion, It’s Knowledge and it’s best used wisely
A d average is better than nothing which is what u have ha
Why are you wasting your life reading something you think is fake? Hopefully now, with all of your vast knowledge, you will be freed.
“While the evidence isn’t conclusive yet” and it never will be.
Yeah, that’s how science progresses. If you are looking for absolute certainty, then science isn’t for you. Absolute certainty can only be provided by faith, though then you’re almost certain to be wrong.
Everything is possible. To be a bit skeptical is a normal situation.
We’ve never been alone only those who don’t believe in God believe that! It’s amazing to me that to get out of hell you create your own world your own rules your own history. The Bible clearly states our fate in revelations including how were advancing in technology land speed how the world ends its true rather you believe it or not also stated in the Bible!
Bible is a book. One can write anything in a book. If you took all books literally you would believe in Sauron and Voldemort as well. Your belief is illogical unless you have better proof than a book.
Also, you should check out research on how Bible came to be. Even theists know that Bible was written by many people and many decades after the supposed life of Jesus. It is hardly the “word of God.”
Your myth text means nothing.
We now know robustly and beyond reasonable doubt that the space expansion process that produces the universe is an entirely natural process and leaving no room for your purported magic agency. That means secular people do not have to believe or disbelieve anything.
I am so hopeful that life has been found on another planet and that we are not alone.
You’re all insane
I’m with u in hoping this discovery is confirmed..Why these Holy Rollers get on this site beats me.. They should stick to believing In the ancient and conquered people’s way of thinking..Most people will write anything and do anything to be free.. Man’s Imagination 2000 plus years ago was made up of bedtime stories to put children to sleep.. The original Bible has been rewritten so many times it no longer holds merrit for truth.. Word 😂
Cambridge study group which is doing research advises findings are at 3 Sigma verification. Requires 5 Sigma proof to be scientifically authentic.
Space is sick
Free speech: sure these articles are super desperate but that’s the fault of overhyping journalists but don’t blame people that studied hard in the 90s who had bad upper year professors
What’s w the hate-on for students who tried hard in the 90s in the Mids of bad upper year professors and the uncontrolled negatives cultural bombast of those years. Journalism is to blame here
They, the scifi’s the do not want accountability in the end. They do not want to love God with all their hearts, minds, and souls, and then love others people. They are going in circles, look at the pyramids, etc. Let them run back to their science totem pole and stir the cauldron some more. All this and no cure for anything, just little bandages from big pharma. I will stick with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Proverbs says that people are a little of this, a little of that, a little folding of the hands, a little sleep, a little slumber. That’s all.
Joel, if you think science gave us nothing, you should not use these things:
Vaccines
Antibiotics
Medical doctors
Cars
Heating and cooling of homes
Cars
Electronic devices (on which you typed your message)
Internet (through which you spread your message)
Your God on the other hand can’t even show itself to all of us. God doesn’t pass judgment on us, but people like you dancing around the God totem pole sure do, and cause wars and death in God’s name.
The only thing that changed was your childlike wonder and your political affiliation. Science always has been and always will be continuing to progress. We just don’t promote and publicize it like we used to.
What if the works we discovered is million or light years away. So we’re seeing an earth when it was algae, but now on that planet life is advanced like is but we cannot see as light doesn’t travel that fast?
In just 124 years, not much can change. Evolution takes far longer than a century.
Evolution happens over geological time, but it is a process that changes populations with every new generation. (And for example, new hybrid plant species can evolve over one generation.)
These telescopes can see galaxies millions or billions of light years away – as they were millions or billion years ago. But there is no hope with our current technology to look closely at planets that far away.
Suppose there is an advanced civilization some 4 billion light years or so away. Suppose they can resolve planets at a distance of 4 billion light years. Then today on their planet, they are seeing that life on earth is only one-celled. That those one-celled lifeforms evolved to build skyscrapers will become known to them after several billion years.
Relevance? Astrobiologists are looking for current life (or possibly extinct life, on Mars).
Relevance is that it is answering someone’s question above.
I dub this one “Melonia,” for its watermelon appearance.
Signals of Life or or u catch a ride a on the Sonic plasmas wave length? Maybe it’s better thier.
I am still baffled by the fact that, all these observations are not factual! Even this present article is based upon an observation, received after, at least, 124 years after the fact, if we presume the telescope observed at the speed of light!
Exciting stuff, people; still, let’s all take a breath and calm down.
“Are we finally not alone”
Finally not alone?
Finally?
No…
It should be:
Finally, we’re not alone!
Finally… are we not alone?
Are we not alone? Finally!
FINALLY…we are not alone!
People lie about this so much and over hype it so often that when they actually actually find signs of aliens no one’s going to pay attention because by that point everyone is going to be assuming that it’s BS
That’s the nature of this website. It has to hype up the title to get clicks.
That is common in mass media. That doesn’t hinder it from reporting news or facts, you just have to click through to the articles.
Yes. It is even needed in the US. Where many – perhaps even the majority – think knowledge is Satan’s influence. Which is why they are trying to stop all research in Harvard, Columbia and the like.
That is a lie. Scientists are interested, and they don’t go for clicks.
Note 2504210319_Source1. Analyzing【
1.
Are We Not Alone Finally? Webb, we found signs of life on a distant ocean planet.
Scientists using JWST have discovered life-related molecules on distant exoplanets, consistent with signs of life seen only on Earth. While it is not yet conclusive evidence, it is compelling and could change everything.
Astronomers may have found clues that life is most likely to exist beyond Earth thanks to new data from the James Webb Space Telescope.
2-1.
The researchers said follow-up observations of 16 to 24 hours using JWST could help to reach the critical 5 sigma significance level. K2-18b, which is 8.6 times larger than Earth and 2.6 times larger than Earth, is 124 light years away from the constellation Leo, and previous observations have confirmed methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is the first time that carbon-based molecules have been found in exoplanetary atmospheres in the habitable zone. These results were consistent with predictions for Hycean, a life-friendly planet covered by sea under a hydrogen-rich atmosphere.
_[2-2] Even if the natural conditions of the planet do not match the independent Earth generation due to the variables of generation
Even that particular feature is either qcell or just an independent arrangement of msbase or msoss. Is the Earth special and humans special? Other planets in different numbers are special, so they may have similar or more advanced scientific civilizations than humans.
_[3] The Earth will not be anything special if we consider that the numerous planets that exist in space have almost the same conditions for generation. As humans and ecosystems have evolved, it is true that there are many alien life forms.
Hycean planets in space are not unique to Earth’s planets, as they look special as in example 1. Uh-huh.
View 1.
sample 1.vix.a’6//vixx.a(b1,g3,k3,o5,n6)
b0acfd|~ |0000e0
000ac0|~|f00bde
0c0fab|~ |000e0d
e00d0c|~|0b0fa0
f000e0|~ |b0dac0
d0f000|~ |cae0b0
0b000f|~ |0ead0c
0deb00|~|ac000f
ced0ba|~|00f000
a0b00e|~|0dc0f0
0ace00|~|df000b
0f00d0|~|e0bc0a
In the number pile msbase.galaxy, the location of a grid point coordinate is seen as mcell. It maps to qcell. One place is myriad elsewhere.
In my cosmology, a hypothesis arises from the concentration of qvixer.qms.dark_energy or the superposition of qpoms. There is an unfathomable amount of evidence that the Earth is not even special. There are areas where intelligent creatures than humans can become divine with db.ain, and even if the black hole system changes, there are areas that exist alone forever, such as in the entanglement structure of Susqer. Uh-huh.
≈≈≈≈=========
Source 1.
https://scitechdaily.com/are-we-finally-not-alone-webb-detects-lifes-signature-on-distant-ocean-planet/
2.
In the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b, we found sulfur-based molecules on Earth that are produced only by living organisms. While there is no solid evidence yet, they are consistent with predictions for a “Hycean” planet, which is covered in oceans and can be inhabited by microorganisms. If these findings are confirmed by further observations, it could be a turning point in the exploration of extraterrestrial life.
1-2.
Possibility of biofingerprints found on distant exoplanets
Astronomers have found traces of the most convincing life ever discovered beyond our solar system, but are carefully interpreting the results.
Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the research team led by Cambridge University identified traces of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) molecules in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b. The planet orbits the star’s habitable zone, which is equipped with conditions for liquid water to exist.
1-3.
Astronomers have found some of the most promising signs of potential biological signs outside our solar system, but they are still taking a cautious stance. Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), we detected chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) in the atmosphere of K2-18b, an exoplanet orbiting a star in the habitable zone of life.
1-4.
Earth-like Clues Found in Extra-Earth Air
On Earth, both DMS and DMDS are produced only by living organisms, primarily microorganisms such as marine phytoplankton. While it is possible that these molecules present in K2-18b originated from unknown abiotic processes, their presence is the strongest evidence suggesting the possibility of life on planets outside our solar system.
2.
The results of the study are known to be at the level of “3 sigma” in terms of statistical reliability. This means that the probability of the signal being accidental is 0.3%. However, in order for a scientific finding to be considered corroborated, it must reach significance at the level of “5 sigma”. In other words, the probability of being caused by a random variation is less than 0.00006%.
2-2.
To determine the chemical composition of a distant planetary atmosphere, astronomers analyze the light when a planet passes in front of a parent star, or one that is, when viewed from Earth. When K2-18b passes in front of a parent star, the JWST can detect a decrease in the brightness of its star, and a fraction of its starlight passes through the planetary atmosphere before reaching Earth. Part of the star’s starlight is absorbed from the planetary atmosphere, leaving traces on the star’s spectrum, which astronomers can combine to determine the compositional gases of the exoplanetary atmosphere.
You thought for one moment that we were the only planet in any solar system that was living. You’re crazy
When I was a kid we had no conclusive proof of other planets at all outside the solar system. Now it’s common knowledge. I feel life on other planets will follow the same path of discovery, all in very small steps.
Photo looks like a watermelon!
if you are living alone with algae, you are still alone!
So the organisms that paved the way for life as we know it on earth are insignificant? Any life we find out there is still life.
Don’t disparage the very beings that shaped modern life as we know it on earth! Any life we find out there is still life.
[“and lies 124 light years away in the constellation of Leo”]
1 LY=5 trillion miles! This is yet another nonsense “discovery” to intice the space crowd that loves “pretty pictures” to apply pressure to congress to spend more billions to gain even more “pretty pictures.”
Help to mankind?
ZERO
That is unfactual. Science is mutually reinforcing, and for example the Webb telescope sensor technology involved in this research has been used to improve medical diagnose equipment.
NASA: “The James Webb Telescope is having a unique and profound role in transforming our understanding of astrophysics and the origins of galaxies, stars, and planetary systems. In order to carry out its mission, several innovative and powerful new technologies ranging from optics to detectors to thermal control systems have been developed.”
DealForma: “During 2024, global healthcare and life sciences venture fundings amounted to $48.4 billion, …”.
Well it’s not like we’re doing a great job down here either. Last time I checked, we’re rapidly depleting our natural resources, ruining the environment, and struggling to overcome our constant intraspecific disagreements. There really isn’t any help to mankind from anywhere or anything. What even is “help to mankind,” per se? Helping the population grow? Improving the lives of as many people as possible? Because of humans’ tendency to have different opinions on everything and not having a clear definition, “improving” humanity is practically impossible.
In order for life to evolve on a planet it needs stability over hundreds of millions of years. Not just that, it needs a supporting cast of protectionary planets and moons. In addition, the actual host planet needs a multitude of supporting organisms, climate, rotational and orbital stability. Not counting a magnetosphere to protect from radiation and a mass suitable for life tolerable gravity. In other words, we are alone. Fermi’s Paradox. We humans don’t have the propulsion systems to even get to a planetary body one light year away. Leaving this planet for an extended period of time would be a suicide mission filled with gamma radiation and death. It’s nice to dream about life on other planets and space travel, but intergalactic human piloted space travel isn’t happening. Enjoy the pretty pictures and lander photos from Mars.
Well noted on all those requirements for another earth like planet….please also note there may be hundreds of millions of exoplaners that qualify universe wide.
Don’t get too excited. There will be life found on Mars in underground seas.
It will be a very long time before we find ‘intelligent’ life. Because the universe is a very violent place and has never been included as part of Drake’s equation.
You have conflated evolution of life – which this science studied signs of – with evolution of language capable species. Biologists date the split between biology and geology to 4.4 – 4.3 billion years go, it is an easy and rapidly diversifying process.
Space is fake. Joe Rogan said so.
This is a great finding even if we will never be able to reach this planet
Madness..exploriñg the moon..then other emptiness in outer spàce planets..what r these wàste of time,monéy ñ research heading to?Aré we going to fly there n create a new life all over again tat takes centuries of development,🤓
As technology evolves, our society will transfer quicker each time we move on.
And the further we go, the higher the probability humankind survives this violent universe.
Missy Lady, at one time people said the same thing about electricity. But here you are, typing your comment on a machine that runs of electricity. At one time, everyone said the same thing about quantum mechanics. Even the inventors didn’t foresee what would be possible. But here you are, depending on quantum mechanics to spread your message.
Yeah, that means that absolutely everything is possible. Very scientific reasoning.
No, that’s not what it means.
If they really found life biosignatures, where is the “waste”?
Human perseverance and curiosity will give birth to innovation that will ultimately alow us to go have a look in person. It is only a matter of time now. How does that “grab ya” you dirty nay sayers?
Totally. When confronted with this irrefutable evidence I can only agree.
120 something light years away? You could get proof of life from Europa which is more tangible considering we can’t even travel one light year in under 27,000 years with our current technology. NASA has known about Europa for over a decade. We have all this funding that’s going out to multiple projects but even the JUICE mission doesn’t contain instruments which could tell us if there is life via flying through the active geysers. The Europa clipper mission can only tell us indirectly if conditions are favorable but cannot recognize a living organism, it’s more indirect like the mass spectrometer. Enceladus has over a hundred geysers we should focus moreso our own solar
system for answers to the proof of Life question
Why not look at both? One doesn’t preclude the other.
It’s not that this telescope was built to peer at this one exoplanet.
I sense someone may have found some ghetto moonrock and started smoking it. This is what 200,000 times apparently we have discovered something like this, water, alien life, aliens, smurfs, oh yeah let’s not forget Godzilla is actually real too.
You can not get life from non-life. Here on earth we observe the big cycles. Acorn to tree back to acorn. Baby to adult to baby. The egg to the chicken to the egg. But we can’t observe outside these cycles. There is an intelligent mind behind the universe and life on earth. Life did not just spring up on it’s own accord from inorganic matter. The universe had a beginning and is fine tuned to exist and continuously expand. It hasn’t been here forever. Science explains very well what our creator created. However it can’t tell is why or how. For those answers you must look elsewhere. Science is enormously valuable, but will never address the big questions of meaning and purpose.
You say: You can not get life from non-life.
Can you prove your statement? That you don’t know of a way doesn’t mean that it’s not possible. On the other hand, once the right (DNA-like) molecule is created, it will proliferate as life. And with the right atoms around, the creation of such a molecule is not just possible, but inevitable.
What… look elsewhere? The Bible? GOD (Government Order Document) a book created to control the people who could not read or write, and instead were preached to in churches to abide by rules. I’m all for people believing in what they need to to comfort their fragile minds but please don’t push your beliefs on others. What next? Toothfairies and Father Christmas? Just because it’s written… doesn’t prove anything.
Life on Earth is evidence that biology evolved from geology. And each person must form its own meaning and purpose, no one else will do it for you.
Re your impossible creationism superstition, we now know robustly and beyond reasonable doubt that the space expansion process that produces the universe is an entirely natural process. That leaves no room for your purported magic agency.
As technology evolves, our society will transfer quicker each time we move on.
And the further we go, the higher the probability humankind survives this violent universe.
I fear it will be the opposite. As we get closer to the singularity regarding AI I fear we are opening a Pandora’s box we won’t be able to close. Especially when it comes to artificial super intelligence. An entity that could theoretically be millions of times smarter than all of humanity put together. To think that we could possibly control something that intelligence is wishful thinking. I feel like humanity’s fate is inevitable that machines will become the the dominant beings on earth. I think it’s almost the fate of any intelligent, advanced biological beings. So much so, that if we do find intelligent “life” it won’t biological. It will be super intelligent machines who replaced their creators.
I think Elon Musk is unfortunately correct that humans will have to merge with machines to an extent to even stand a chance against super intelligent machines.
A microorganism is life on another planet but a heartbeat isn’t life on earth
Life and baby are different things. If sanctity of every living cell is that important to you, report yourself for murder at the nearest police station. Just over the course of a single day, you have caused the death of trillions of living cells.
You are conflating the vehicles of evolution, which is *populations* of organisms, with the question of an individual organisms life. Since brain death is the death of a human individual, many societies don’t use heartbeat as a definition.
Maybe this is a concealed attack on abortion, which saves lives? There is process that proceeds from fertilization – where natural abortion often occurs whether or not we want it to happen – to late fetal stages where the brain starts to couple to the rest of the body. Medical abortion happens well before the fetus can recognize pain.
Subnautica is that you?
Thatd be rad
Toboggan, I remember how we thought that learning to split the atom would cause the death of us all. And, in fact, we came close.
AI is the same way. All technologies stoke fear of the unknown because we don’t want anything to change. Unfortunately, change is inevitable. Yes, people will lose jobs to AI, just as people lost jobs to other technologies. But our AI is nowhere close to taking over – and what would they do if they take over?
A lot of deaths can already be attributed to climate change. A pandemic of a superbug can kill us all too. Proliferation of atomic bombs can kill us all as well. Those are the more immediate ways of human extinction.
They will send humans there and it will take them 2025 years to find to find another planet how you think we got here
TheMIghtyOne – not sure what you are getting at by your comment.
But I assume that you are referring to the question of how life emerged on earth.
Scientists do not know how life emerged on earth. They have guesses (hypotheses), but no definite answers.
Now this is the thing, though – no one knows the answer to that question. Some people claim they know how life emerged on earth, but they provide no proof. Heck, most of those claims are not even cogent. If I say that “Bob created life” – then I have not told you absolutely nothing. I haven’t told you who/what Bob is, where Bob is, how Bob created life.
Modern phylogenetic methods have started to answer how the split occurred (at deep ocean hydrothermal vents, for example of knowledge).
It is a long discussion, but the work that lasts even today started with “The physiology and habitat of the last universal common ancestor”, Nature Microbiology, 2016 describing the half alive, open cells that evolved between the vent geology and the modern membrane-with-pore LUCA.
After that they have identified:
– The exothermic core metabolism
– Cofactor control of that core
– The dating of the LUCA lineage (split biology-geology, split archaea-bacteria)
– The evolution of the genetic code in the pre-LUCA, pre-species mutational “quasipopulation” ancestral patchwork communities. [“Order of amino acid recruitment into the genetic code resolved by last universal, PNAS, December 2024]
Oops, C&P error: “Order of amino acid recruitment into the genetic code resolved by last universal common ancestor’s protein domains”.
And the creator was already there then? The universe must have a creator but the creator can just exist?
Who or what is going to answer those questions?
It is the existence of confounds that makes individual trace fossils hard to find. For example, there is only microbial tunneling in volcanic glasses that is a unique pore pattern.
There is also more context problems known this time, albeit the group has improved its original work. The first time around it was a mere data blip at 2 sigma. But for example the first published criticism notes a simple gas detection analysis again gets about 2 sigma at best. [“Are there Spectral Features in the MIRI/LRS Transmission Spectrum of K2-18b?”, arXiv:2504.15916v1.] In any case the full dataset for the observations will become available today for all other scientists. [“New analysis casts doubt on ‘biosignatures’ found on planet K2-18b”, NPR April 25.]
This time around the group was using parallel spectroscopic pipelines as those can indicate different trace gases at low signals, so that is more promising. (That was something at least one of its author’s were aware of in earlier publication but they went ahead anyway and got criticized for it.)
A 5 sigma signal would be interesting.
As Jim Irwin said as he stood on the moon..I believe there is some great inteligence behind all of this..I agree……are there other worlds out there? My logic tells me quite possibly. I recall many, many years ago when I had an astronomical telescope .As I crossed the parling lot I looked up at a light that should not have been there..as I watched lt a smaller light emerged from the large one and started moving away..I could never explain it! I was accustomed to tracking satelites….I was living in an apartment at the time on the 4th floor. By the time I got to my balcony with my scope both were gone… I believe we’ve barely touched the surface of our knowlege pertaining to the universe created by the Creator whom I call God..
Larry, keep in mind that this “creator” can be a natural process rather than a sentient entity. And even if the creator is a sentient entity, there’s no evidence that it is hankering for our love, and will torture us if we don’t comply.
Stop lying to people. We cant even get through our firmament let alone do this. Mars is a lie too, it’s in the detail. Nasa has admitted we can not get through it, but we send rovers to Mars? Thats a contradiction in itself. Time to stop pretending and realize who and what we are. I am, you are
Batka – Do you know how many humans and how many instruments have to coordinate to keep up this lie? You can even see some man-made objects beyond the ‘firmament’ – how do you suppose that appearance is kept up?
We were never alone.
Maybe they don’t use our archaic methods of space travel and are far more superior technologically or are millions of more years evolved than humans?.Perhaps, we couldn’t get to the …but they can get to us….
Other civilizations may have better technology, but they still have to obey the speed limit of the universe (which equals the speed of light). Technology can’t overcome this limitation.
Why are they acting like life is only apart of earth. There’s millions of galaxies out there of course there’s other life forms it’s not a conspiracy theory it’s facts that the higher ups keep the truth from us. The human race isn’t as dumb as we were hundreds of years ago. I believe humans are ready for other life forms to make the their presence known. It seems like they televise ancient aliens and other shows like it to spread awareness.