Life on a Distant Planet

For years, scientists, astronauts, and astronomers have asked the big question: Is there life beyond Earth? After years of research, space experts say that there is a possibility of life on another planet.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge detected traces of chemicals on an exoplanet called K2-18b, approximately 124 light years away, or 744 trillion miles. Exoplanets are planets that are beyond our solar system and orbit a different star. The chemicals detected were called and are only produced by living organisms.

These chemicals were detected by NASA’s James Webb Telescope, the most powerful space telescope ever built. The scientists still need more data like more traces of chemicals to confirm the findings. Researchers say that if they do, it could mean that there are aliens out there.

Professor Nikku Madhusudhan is the lead scientist for the university’s Institute of Astronomy. He said that if there is life on K2-18b, it would confirm that life is very common in the galaxy, meaning that we might not be alone in the universe. It could also His team wants to do more research in a lab to check if the chemicals were produced by anything other than living organisms.

Even if aliens existed, would our technology prevented us from meeting them? Who knows? Maybe the human race will find out how to move at light speed or be able to teleport! Or maybe our human race will be wiped out before we even come close. The aliens might not do any harm because, for all we know, they could just be harmless bacteria or plankton that are also on the Earth!