Possible hints of life found on distant planet – how excited should we be?

"The exoplanet K2-18b might host a water ocean."

Space.com reported this recently too.

 
Okay, I have been watching for follow up reports on K2-18 b. Here it is, perhaps not a hycean world with life but a lava world.

Is K2-18b covered in oceans of water or oceans of lava?, https://phys.org/news/2024-01-k2-18b-oceans-lava.html

Ref - Ref - Distinguishing oceans of water from magma on mini-Neptune K2-18b, https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05864, 11-Jan-2024.

Reports like this for exoplanet studies IMO, raises questions about ET phoning home, buzzing the Earth, and came within about 35 pc to pick up Earth TV and radio signals that have been transmitting into space for about 100 years or so. Exoplanets so far, do not look to be earthlike, teeming with life.
 
Apr 28, 2024
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Okay, I have been watching for follow up reports on K2-18 b. Here it is, perhaps not a hycean world with life but a lava world.

Is K2-18b covered in oceans of water or oceans of lava?, https://phys.org/news/2024-01-k2-18b-oceans-lava.html

Ref - Ref - Distinguishing oceans of water from magma on mini-Neptune K2-18b, https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05864, 11-Jan-2024.

Reports like this for exoplanet studies IMO, raises questions about ET phoning home, buzzing the Earth, and came within about 35 pc to pick up Earth TV and radio signals that have been transmitting into space for about 100 years or so. Exoplanets so far, do not look to be earthlike, teeming with life.
I have never come across any anaerobic organism which produces DMS in large enough quantities, and if K2-18b were oxygen rich, it would be obvious from the Spectrum. On Earth, DMS is mainly associated with phytoplankton, which actually produce oxygen. So at this stage, it's an anomaly without an obvious explanation. We need to keep an open mind without jumping to headline inducing conclusions.
 

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