Scientists in the U.K. have announced strong evidence of potential life beyond our solar system on the exoplanet K2-18b. This discovery, led by professor Nikku Madhusudhan at the University of Cambridge, involved detecting the Earth-like biomarker dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in K2-18b's atmosphere using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. On Earth, DMS is produced exclusively by life forms such as ocean microorganisms, leading researchers to believe that its presence on K2-18b suggests similar biological activity. K2-18b is located 124 light-years away and orbits a red dwarf star, existing within its habitable zone, which raises the possibility of supporting life. While researchers have a high statistical confidence level for their detection of DMS, further observations are needed to confirm the results. Madhusudhan emphasized the significance of this finding as a transformative moment in the search for extraterrestrial life, underlining that even if the signal arises from a new chemical process, it still marks a breakthrough in understanding potentially habitable worlds.

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