Scientists Debate Evidence Of 'Alian' Presence At Exoplanet K2-18b

JAKARTA - Not long ago, a group of scientists was in the spotlight for finding evidence of life on an exoplanet named K2-18b. Of the various signs found, K2-18b is believed to be a 'full ocean of life'.

The researchers believe in life after discovering the large number of molecular dimethyl sulfides (DMS) in the planet's atmosphere. These molecules were discovered after they analyzed NASA's James Webb Space Telescope data.

Di Bumi, DMS hanya diproduksi oleh kota hidup seperti alga laut. Oleh karena itu, Nikkitamasudhan dari University of Cambridge menyebut molecular ini sebagai 'tanda-tanda bislima' yang berpotensi besar dalam pencarian kehidupan alien.

"This is the first clue we've seen about a foreign world that may be inhabited," mikhaudhan told a news conference, quoted by Space on Wednesday, April 23. "This is a revolutionary moment."

Unfortunately, this finding was not welcomed by all scientists. AfterEVERsudhan and his colleagues shared the latest research results from the planet K2-18b, a number of scientists gave warnings and asked them to be careful.

One of the scientists highlighted the detection of DMS reported byction with a statistical significance of three sigma. This detection shows a 0.3 percent chance resulting from random opportunities.

Experts also emphasize that this is far from the five sigma standard commonly used in scientific discoveries to minimize false positives. Simply put, experts state that the findings ofvisudhan were caused by statistical coincidences.

"Concluding that DMS has been detected apparently too early," said Manasvi Lingam, Astrobiologist at the Florida Institute of Technology. "(This study) involved new data, but until the data was independently analyzed by other parties, we were unable to make any claims about K2-18b habitability."

On the other hand, Assistant Professor of Astrobiology at the University of California, Eddie Schwieterman said he was surprised by these findings. Ethana's absence in the findings of DMS or DMDS signals is considered inconsistent with scientists' understanding of the planet's atmosphere.

"Whether our model is wrong or DMS/DMDS may not exist (on the planet)," Schwieterman told Space. "Finding life outside the solar system will not be 'one-time and complete' detection. We have to anticipate some false alarms and this may be one of them."