Is there any recent discoveries in exoplanet research revealed about the potential for life beyond Earth?
In: Planetary Science
There is no recent discovery or paper that reveals more potential than let’s say last year.
We’ve known for a while now that organic chemistry occurs in the universe without living things. Nucleotides, the monomers of DNA and RNA are produced naturally without living cells. Amino acids also form naturally and have been found on asteroids and comets.
There was a recent trace molecule discovered in the atmosphere of a planet. Dimethyl sulfide was the compound. We don’t know of a non-biological pathway this substance can be made. Bacteria make it on our planet. The signal was weak as part of the data however. More analysis of the spectral data will be needed to determine if this molecule is actually present in the atmosphere. These biosignatures also don’t tell us for sure if life is present, just that a molecule exists, we would need to consider all of the multiple points of evidence to make determinations about life on these planets.
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