In mid-April, scientists from the University of Cambridge announced evidence of the existence of life on planets other than Earth. Using sensors from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), researchers detected the presence of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) molecules on the planet K2-18b, which is located 124 light years from Earth. These two gases would exist if there were aquatic life on Earth, giving hope that K2-18b could also support life.
But when the original data was analyzed by Jake Taylor from the University of Oxford to detect any gas presence, he only saw horizontal lines. This means that no gas molecules could be detected in the atmosphere of K2-18b.
The conclusion from this study is that the data collected using JWST may contain high noise, giving inaccurate readings, the signal collected is too weak, or the model used is biased to detect DMS and DMDS gases. Immediately after the announcement made by the University of Cambridge, there were several questions as to why ethane gas was not detected at all when it usually exists in the presence of DMS.
Jake Taylor's study is currently in the preprint stage and has not yet undergone peer-reviewed testing. The University of Cambridge team has said more data readings will need to be taken to definitively confirm the existence of other planets, a process that could take several years.