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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Will Dunham

Planet 124 light-years from Earth could be ‘teeming with alien life’

Astronomers say Exoplanet K2-18b holds the strongest yet 'hints' of the life outside this solar system - (University of Cambridge/AFP via)

In a potential landmark discovery, scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have obtained what they call the strongest signs yet of possible life beyond our solar system, detecting in an alien planet's atmosphere the chemical fingerprints of gases that on Earth are produced only by biological processes.

The two gases - dimethyl sulfide, or DMS, and dimethyl disulfide, or DMDS - involved in Webb's observations of the planet named K2-18 b are generated on Earth by living organisms, primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton - algae.

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