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New observations fail to confirm signs of life in the atmosphere of the distant planet K2-18b. They also raise questions about what it will take to detect biology light-years away.
By Carl Zimmer
In April, a team of scientists based at the University of Cambridge claimed that a planet orbiting a distant star bore a possible signature of life. The announcement kicked up a fierce debate among astronomers, with many skeptics arguing that the evidence was too ambiguous.
Now a NASA-led team has made a new set of observations of the planet known as K2-18b, which lies 124 light-years from Earth. They have provided a clearer picture of the planet — confirming the presence of water, perhaps even as a liquid ocean.
