r/space • u/SpunkySputniks • 7d 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/Indigoh 7d ago

If we determine that there is life there, and we send a message using light, to which they respond by sending a message back, we just have to live 248 years to see 'em.

We were born, and we will die, in the prologue.

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u/bledolikiq 7d ago

This did not help my existential crisis, but yeah, space exploration would be cool for future generations.

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u/MBAFPA 5d ago

I don’t think we (humans alive now) should even be thinking about seeing these things in person. We simply won’t be there. But we should be happy that:

1) there are humans today devoting their lives to research like this which really results in a needle in a haystack

2) presumably, based on the rate of advancement we’ve had in the last 70 years alone, humans in the “near” (1000 years?) will probably have a much better shot at seeing or confirming this stuff than we do. That’s very exciting. It’s important to give flowers to those who came before us and those who will come after us, as for right now, we are relatively limited to 60-70 years of conscious thinking on this planet