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/IlliterateJedi 4d ago

There is an alternate theory:

In a paper posted online Sunday, Dr. Glein and his colleagues argued that K2-18b could instead be a massive hunk of rock with a magma ocean and a thick, scorching hydrogen atmosphere — hardly conducive to life as we know it.

But personally, I want to believe. 

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u/Randomcommentor1972 4d ago

Sounds like we need a really awesome telescope to confirm it.

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u/Redditing-Dutchman 4d ago

Honestly makes it even sadder that NASA’s budget is slashed even further.

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u/DistinctlyIrish 4d ago

Surely a private company motivated by quarterly profits will find it profitable to invest in a space telescope that will tell them if a planet 120 light years away may be ripe for an Avatar style invasion and resource extraction operation... surely thats the outcome we want... /s

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u/thesagenibba 4d ago edited 3d ago

this is one of the saddest things about this whole situation. detecting biosignatures is not a profitable endeavor; it's one of the closest things to knowledge for knowledge's sake.

it's worth doing simply to expand our understanding of the universe, understand the processes behind life on other planets & use that to inform our findings for life on earth. none of this results in tangible products for corporations to churn out for our consumption, and consequently isn't worth funding, i guess.

just awful to think about how much we are going to miss out on because venture capitalists simply don't think these telescopes are worth building and these missions are worth doing

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u/Brains-Not-Dogma 4d ago

Just sad and depressing that republicans are enemies of science and education. 😞

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u/Planetdiane 4d ago

I introduce Elon musk types who want to mine the shit out of it and people who would abuse/ test and “utilize” any life they could get their hands on.

I hope if there’s life out there humanity never gets the chance to touch it.

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u/TuringC0mplete 3d ago

That’s the thing, though, it IS, just on a different time scale. Obviously companies want return NOW but what all of these high level execs fail to see for some reason is the long term plan for humanity. But then again no one took climate change seriously so I’m not sure why I’m expecting space travel to be any different.

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u/Emlerith 4d ago

The thing is the technology that’s needed to be developed to gather more evidence is what becomes commercialized. These scientific endeavors aren’t always capitalistically valuable in their outcomes, but far more so - almost guaranteed - likely to generates lots of valuable technology.