Get the latest tech news
New analysis casts doubt on 'biosignatures' found on planet K2-18B
Researchers using data from the James Webb Space Telescope recently announced they had detected biosignature gases on planet K2-18b. A new analysis of the same data casts doubt on the earlier findings
Rather than seeing a bump or a wiggle that indicated a signal, "the data is consistent with a flat line," says Taylor, adding that more observations from the telescope are needed to know what can be reliably said about this planet's atmosphere. "This test has been done in many publications looking at JWST observations, and has become a common 'first look' analysis," he says, adding that it's been previously used to detect water and carbon dioxide in other planets' atmospheres. This first reanalysis is important "because it carries the frustrations expressed by many in the exoplanet community," says Kevin Stevenson, at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, in an email to NPR.
Or read this on Hacker News
