As astronomers study an exoplanet called K2-18b, conflicting research reveals how difficult it is to find evidence of life beyond Earth.

Does extraterrestrial life smell like the sea? It might or might not be the smell of aliens, but dimethyl sulfide — and its funky odor — definitely gets around ...

Last month, astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope made headlines by announcing they had detected hints of the chemicals dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) on the planet.

In April, scientists captured global attention by announcing they'd found a molecule in a faraway planet's atmosphere that could signal life there.

Avi Loeb, a Harvard professor of science and theoretical physicist, told NewsNation that while dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide appear to be present in the atmosphere of the planet K2-18b ...

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists say they found indications of potential life on K2-18b, a planet outside our solar system.

The researchers found strong evidence of a chemical called dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in the planet’s atmosphere. On Earth, DMS is produced only by living organisms, so it appears to be a compelling ...

Dimethyl sulfide is cool—and a potential biosignature—but scientists are urging caution before we declare a plankton party some 120 light-years away.

On Earth, that gas—called dimethyl sulfide—is mostly produced by living organisms. In April 2024, the James Webb Space Telescope stared at the host star of the planet K2-18b for nearly six hours.

The team's findings, based on their analysis of James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) data, point to an abundance of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) molecules in the atmosphere of a planet known as K2-18b ...

If the dimethyl sulfide is there, was it made by life? Still, let’s say scientists confirm the DMS signal, and K2-18b turns out to be a habitable Hycean world.