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Scientists found a potential sign of life on a distant planet – an astronomer explains why many are still skeptical

  • Written by Daniel Apai, Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona
imageAn illustration of the exoplanet K2-18b, which some research suggests may be covered by deep oceans. NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

A team of astronomers announced on April 16, 2025, that in the process of studying a planet around another star, they had found evidence for an unexpected atmospheric gas. On Earth, that gas – called...

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