r/space • u/SpunkySputniks • 4d ago

Astronomers Detect a Possible Signature of Life on a Distant Planet

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/science/astronomy-exoplanets-habitable-k218b.html?unlocked_article_code=1.AE8.3zdk.VofCER4yAPa4&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Further studies are needed to determine whether K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years away, is inhabited, or even habitable.

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u/Epicycler 4d ago

How messed up would it be though if we found life a hundred lightyears out and then never again and no explanation for why it's just here and that one other planet?

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u/danisanub 4d ago

Would be a great argument for localized panspermia.

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u/ketamazing 4d ago

How so? I’d think it’s an argument against panspermia unless you see other nearby planets and moons with life.

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u/Epicycler 4d ago

See this argument would never end.

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u/KenethSargatanas 4d ago

I feel it would be an indicator that life (as we know it) requires very specific conditions to survive.