K2-18b: did JWST really find evidence of life on this exoplanet?

[@gleedads]

Awesome summary: "Promise me you'll bear all of this in mind...just because one model fits the data doesn't mean there aren't other models..." This is such a good summary of the essence of science that I will probably point my students at this video, whether we are studying anything to do with exoplanets or not.

[@louisgiokas2206]

I was thinking that as well. The thing with all this astrophysics stuff is that, until one actually sends a probe, it is all speculation. This isn't particle physics where one does controlled experiments. This is more like archaeology or anthropology, where a new pottery shard or bone fragment can totally change all the previous explanations. Just look at what JWST has done to the field in a short period of time. We have new "digs", in effect. As Dr. Becky points out, a particular molecule is only known to be made by life on earth, and cannot come from other atmospheric processes, etc. Well, just in our solar system we know of moons and planets (we sent probes) with totally different atmospheric composition and processes. Even in particle physics, for example, the experiment can only tend to support, or not, a particular model. This is what my physics professors, who I worked for in the High Energy Physics department, told me when I was a boy (half a century ago, actually). It's sort of the same thing. In both cases we are looking at either the very small or very large, or very short or very long timeframes, which are things we cannot directly experience.

[@DrBecky]

Thanks!

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@louisgiokas2206 great comparison to archaeology! I've always been drawn to the room for debate and imagination that come alongside observations.

[@deltalima6703]

@DrBecky whats the story with anton petrovs new video? (Black hole jets switching directions) Whole thing is fishy, makes no sense to me.

[@Wildman-zh8lg]

​@@DrBeckyI hope there's actual real life there

[@bujin1977]

One thing that blows my mind is that I went to university to study astrophysics not very long after the first exoplanet was discovered. I found it fascinating back then that we had the ability to detect planets around other stars. And now we're able to analyse the light passing through the atmospheres of these planets. I wonder where we'll be in another 30 years time.

[@Sableagle]

Shaking trees, banging our chests and T-posing to assert dominance in the ongoing struggle to get access to potable water.

[@lyricallysupreme]

We’ll definitely have found life by then.

[@EinsteinsHair]

Hopefully we will not be debating models of an atmosphere, but with good enough data to have certainty quickly. Naturally, the goal is not just the major components of the atmosphere, but molecules which make up a small percentage. I wonder how long that will take? Also, hopefully, we will be looking at light reflecting off an atmosphere, where the planet does not transit perfectly. I want all of this!

[@davepastern]

@@lyricallysupreme unless we change our data sets, I highly doubt it. We need to focus on G type stars, similar to our Sun (output and size). And, imho, a similar age. IMHO, we aren't looking in the right places and are currently wasting our time and resources.

[@davepastern]

@revelari5250 sure…to map the light curve for an Earth sized terrestrial exoplanet requires a 1m + telescope, if not larger. That’s a few million dollars…then there’s the spectroscopy equipment which isn’t cheap either…

[@mastick5106]

"Well, this kind of confusion, of not knowing what the actual right answer is, is science in action and it's wonderful to see." This attitude is honestly the main reason I subscribed to your channel. I love it.

[@DrBecky]

Thanks! 🤗

[@Jay1bad1]

​@@DrBeckywhat do you know about junglevrse.that you cannot tell!!!.Jwst..when proposed..supposed to see structures on exoplanet....Do you get to c any of these pics

[@AmateurHistorian999]

Thank you for this great report! I've subscribed and I'm looking forward to more. As I watched, I was paying as much attention to the data analysis as to K2-18b itself. I'm applying to a Masters program in economics, and for that I'll need to know statistics and other analytical tools. So as your video got toward the end I was thinking, OK, time to start on that. And hey ho there you go, you're talking about Brilliant and its new material on data analysis. Synchronicity -- you gotta love it. Thank you for that too. Cheers, Chris Schulman

[@SazzleCam]

1st rule of media: Don't let data & scientific analysis get in the way of selling a good story.

[@Cara.314]

Isn't capitalism great!!??

[@noelstarchild]

You're right damn it.

[@katesmiles4208]

The original saying was never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Your version works too..

[@martinross6416]

Or more funding.

[@stewiesaidthat]

​@@katesmiles4208we choose truth over facts. When the facts don't support the narrative, choose truth.

[@RaeanneNichol]

I simply love your channel because you illustrate quite well how same data can be interpreted in many different ways. And which is why we need to keep asking questions and obtaining more data to better understand our universe just a little more clearly.

[@jacobhald1377]

Just want to point out that magma means underground molten rock, where lava means topside molten rock. So a magma ocean would mean an underground ocean of molten rock. I guess that's sort of what we have right here at home in our own planet. In other words, we got K2-18b at home! :D

[@sillyjellyfish2421]

Meanwhile here i am internally screaming a little because the liquid water IS lava and water ice IS rock. Just because we are used to exist in the temperature and pressure range where it happens to be melting all the time it doesn't mean it's not lava. And sure, H2O is no SiO4, but hey, neither are tons of other minerals on Earth. Lava/magma is a very wide concept that matches tons of materials with different chemistry

[@EliasMheart]

I think there was a card in the video pointing this out :P K2-18b at home: 🌍

[@anamewithstyle]

What do you expect from the people who consider oxygen to be a metal?

[@davidwuhrer6704]

Most rock in the mantle is solid. High pressure. It only becomes liquid near the surface, at the same temperature with less pressure. Not a liquid rock ocean by any stretch.

[@a.karley4672]

@@sillyjellyfish2421 Aha! A willing recruit for #TeamIce in the next "Mineral Cup" event on social media. We'll freeze out those "hot lava" people yet!

[@mikeoitzman8275]

Awesome analysis. You break it down nicely for the layman. Appreciate you! Keep up the great work.

[@tf454]

Dr. Becky videos are just pure gems. Thank you again.

[@kayleescruggs6888]

I was in high school when discovery of the first exoplanet was announced. And now, we might soon have evidence of life on them. It almost feels like science fiction.

[@Paul-rs4gd]

For most of my life, it was considered that detecting planets around other stars was beyond our capability.

[@sapphonymph8204]

It is.

[@jdmurf28]

Thanks!

[@JeffLearman]

THANKS! I saw the headlines but didn't even bother to read, hoping it'd be covered here, especially if it wasn't the usual news hype.

[@luudest]

Ok, we need to build a bigger telescope right now.

[@me0101001000]

Yeah, we do! The question is, where do we put it?

[@davelordy]

We could just find people with smaller eyes, save a lot of money.

[@dedcowbowee]

@@davelordy It just might work!!!!!!

[@stricklst]

Already in the works. Just 20 years away

[@johnfoppiano7058]

They are.

[@LeftCoastStephen]

I listen to this and am reminded of the old saying: Lies, damned lies and STATISTICS. Excellent explanation of something that goes so far over my head it could be in orbit 😊

[@stewiesaidthat]

As Jack Nicholson put it, You can't handle the truth. Science has gone down the road of telling little lies in order to get government funding. Now they are having to make up bigger lies in order to get bigger grants. JWST has found life on Planet 51. Now we need a bigger telescope to confirm it. We need money to build a radio-telescope array to listen for signals in case they might be communicating with us. It's always the same with these scammers.

[@DESOUSAB]

Came here to say the same thing.

[@davidwuhrer6704]

Statistics don't lie. They often don't say what people don't want them to say, and some people lie with statistics by judiciously omitting confounders (and of course variance). But the numbers themselves don't lie.

[@Retired1967]

Gotta be careful with statistics. 25% of crashes are caused by drink drivers.......75% sober drivers. Therefore it's safer to drive whilst drunk 😉

[@a.karley4672]

Statistics is a relatively simple field. More people should do it - and would benefit from it. If it didn't depend, in significant degree, on calculus, I'd say rearranging compulsory maths education to ditch the calculus in favour of (applied) statistics would be a good thing. Pundits and politicians who like to hide reality behind confusingly inappropriate layers of statistical bullshit would hate that - it would be so much harder for them to lie to their audiences. So it'll never happen.

[@frankvanderpool9001]

Your excitement about hat you do is invigorating and I enjoy listening to you explain plausible possibilities of complex scenarios is mesmerizing. I'm a retired Industrial teacher and I know when someone is doing a great job. I do share your astronomical interest. Have a sunny day and a clear night!

[@highlandrc9036]

Another great video... Thanks Dr. Becky

[@seliasthemage]

I really like the way you cover this by talking through each of the papers.

[@michaelshekari9434]

Thank you so much for making this video. I am going to share this with an intro to remote sensing class I am teaching.

[@zriraum]

Always excited when a new becky video drops! Space videos at night is the vibe🤩

[@samedwards6683]

Thanks so much for creating and sharing this informative video. Great job. Keep it up.

[@xantiom]

-Pack swimming suits! -Unpack swimming suits, pack fire proximity suits and lots of hydrogel! -Unpack the fire proximity suits, pack the gasmasks and bring a balloon

[@ceo1OO]

- the data (model2) shows that there may be an *Alien Nation* 👽 on planet k2-18b... lol... that's exciting! 12:04 - it also shows that i could be getting my hopes up about something that's just a ball of gas (model3) 😮‍💨 - i think they were right to go with occam's razor... the simpest explanation might be the correct one... - also... i would've loved to hear the doc say *occam's razor* with her pleasant accent... it could be a bit of a toungue-twister for her but i'm sure she could handle it because... that's that becky... Dr. Becky... 👩🏼‍🔬

[@TheBoxBand]

We've achieved so many milestones in human civilization, yet we will be discovered by aliens based on fart we produce.

[@t.c.bramblett617]

You can't hide a fart forever lol

[@Dvpainter]

we fart loud here

[@alanholck7995]

A fart on a planet 8x mass than Earth would be quite the fart.

[@pacotaco1246]

Never trust a fart

[@SSGLGamesVlogs]

"Like a fart in the wind."

[@hazelchua2586]

now being the odd person that i am, i keep thinking, why should life out there be anything that is similar to us or what our definition of what lifeforms should be? why can't there be sentient lifeforms that are completely different to what life is on this planet we live on? which means if we are looking for 'life' on other planets, we could jolly well have missed it because we are only looking for 'life' that is similar to us and what we know.

[@StEvEn-dp1ri]

As a non-scientist, but an armchair science enthusiast, it drives me crazy to see the claims that some of these "scientists" make using such imperfect data. The ambiguity in the data leaves way too much room for interpretation to make a claim this important.

[@BudgieJane]

One thing I have learnt in all my time on this planet is "don't believe everything you read in the newspapers", especially "don't believe anything about advancements in science that you read in the newspapers"

[@leoborganelli]

One thing I have learned is that learnt is not a word....

[@katesmiles4208]

I like the very old saying of:- Never believe everything you hear, and only half of what you see.

[@Alexander_Grant]

In my freshman astronomy course, our professor did a whole segment on science media literacy. I thought it was ridiculous at the time, but man I can spot things in other fields that aren't real with ease now. I have my degree in physics so I can usually tell whether some stuff like this is true or not, but for biology and stuff it is really nice to know what signs to look for. Something fun about that course was that we had to write an article that was fake and used the same tactics that science journalists use, and my girlfriend at that time looked at what I was writing while I was in the bathroom and I came back to her looking horrified at the article I wrote about the moon spiraling towards the earth since I had told her I was working on a paper for that class. It gave me a good laugh.

[@stewiesaidthat]

​@Alexander_Grant if you really have a degree in physics, then explain gravity. Explain time-dilation. Explain the daily and yearly tides if you are familiar with the moon and its orbit around the planet.

[@olencone4005]

Before things kinda fell apart for them, most newspapers would have one or more science reporters who at least had some training or experience with a scientific field. Their job was to read the scientific papers and simplify them for the public -- the newspapers had a policy to keep the language/concepts simple enough to be understand by a 6th grader (or an adult with only a 6th grade education). When the rising tide of online media began driving print sales down into the sub-basements, those specialized reporters were the first ones that were cut... which left the general news reporters now trying to figure out complex reports and studies that were most definitely not written at a 6th grade level, with the disappointing results we have today :(

[@desmondellis657]

This is why I love science so much; there’s always something new and interesting going on! From exoplanets to the age of the Universe, it is so exciting! Thank you Dr Becky, and all scientists who make it so exciting to be alive in this day and age!👍🏼

[@Mo.Jo.MTB_101]

Thanks again for your work!!! Having Astrophysics broken down like this is amazing!!! I love to learn but as my dream job (I work in Chemistry) is sometimes demanding I don't have time to read as many papers in other fields as I would like so your channel is much much appreciated!!!

[@G.O.E_C]

I was there 🤷🏾‍♂️😉😂✨💯❤️‍🔥 I can tell you that you are right about a lot… I “experienced” (❤️‍🔥🚀) in 2021

[@chadcrotts870]

Thank you as always for making the complex easy to understand for the casual observer.

[@grahamrich3368]

Fascinating stuff! Thank you Dr Becky!! 👏👏

[@ErnestRobinson-v1f]

Great update and summary. This is what science is all about - never take just one explanation, especially ones based on models. Wielding Occam's does focus attention nicely. By calling it a magma ocean, this probably means that the planet is assumed to not have cooled enough for any crust to have formed. If a crust had formed and been covered by out-poring of magma from eruptions, this would be a lava ocean big enough to provide an atmosphere that fits the model gas from molten rock oceans. Would there be any way of seeing whether it is a planet with a surface comprising both crustal areas and lava oceans?

[@jameshorigan3322]

Thank you for another great video Doctor. One for the algorithm! 🙂

[@nicka.papanikolaou9475]

Best exposition of the data. Kudos Dr. Becky. However, DMS can be produced by chemical processess. The first one is by reacting methanol and hydrogen sulfide. Methanol can be prouced by the reaction CH4​+CO2​→CH3​OH+CO albeit at high T (600-1000 C). There are other ways to produce methanol. Also the reaction CO2​+3H2​→CH3​OH+H2​O also produces methanol but in the presence of metal catalysts such as Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃. However even this reaction requires a T of 200 C to 270 C. I cannot exclude it though and it may be occuring in the "hot" zone of the planet and then spread in th atmosphere. So did they look for and find any metals? There is methane and water so I consider the reaction plausible! Dr. Nick, Biochemist

[@davewest6788]

Thanks for the model explanation and differentiation. Much like other things there isn't just one way of looking at things. What's the car on the shelf in the background?

[@noelstarchild]

Knowledge and facts are worthy to pass on. Just got your book. Thank you.

[@DrBecky]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@noelstarchild]

@@DrBecky It has arrived Yay! Only at Standing on the shoulders of Giants, but am enraptured by it. Hardback, script well centred, and the leaves don't stick, the paper quality good. I struggle to put it down Dr.. Love it.

[@Joshua-by4qv]

I'm back in school now, majoring in Dr. Becky. This is so fascinating.

[@barry8642]

The second amazing outlook on our frontier for space science. Thank You Dr Becky you are amazing also great work your videos are inspiring in so many ways

[@alistairgray5466]

Super insightful video! The scientific method can be quite sobering but it's our best path towards unbiased truths

[@AbAb-th5qe]

Agreed. Progress is rarely in the way you'd expect. Many people jumped the gun with those claims of room temperature superconductors as well. We all want to see emotionally evocative results and that can skew the conclusions we draw from data. I think the replication crisis is testament to that.

[@robinbeattie3404]

I appreciate your presenting varied theories associated with represented data. Again I do enjoy your presentation

[@michaelogden5958]

I wonder what would happen if all of the scientists agreed that there IS life on some planet 100+ light years from earth.

[@forMacguyver]

That will happen as soon as we can watch an episode of "Aliens got Talent"

[@michaelogden5958]

@@forMacguyver well said.

[@Poppa_Capinyoaz]

'Show me what you got'

[@davidwright8432]

Then there would be a great deal of compelling evidence for that.

[@billcook4768]

I can’t think of anything we could observe that would convince 100% of scientists that we had confirmed life. At best we may get to “a majority of scientists think it more likely than not” and even then I’m not sure what we would observe that would get us there.

[@peters616]

Thanks for a great summary of the current studies on K2-18b. My only issue with the Wogan conclusion is that ammonia was not detected at all and would be expected for a mini-Neptune. They touch on it in the paper saying there are some reasons why a mini-Neptune might not have that much NH3 but it seems like an afterthought especially since Madhusudhan had already noted the non-detection of ammonia in concluding it was likely a Hycean world (presumably ruling out a mini-Neptune) . Looking forward to seeing the new analysis of the new data.

[@kayinoue2497]

Scientist brain: More observations, please. That's a weak signal-to-noise. Dork me: [Micheal Myers voice] LIIIIQUID, MAAAHHHGMMAHHH

[@d_mosimann]

Call me back when found an earth-sized planet arround a G-Star with life signs on it.

[@bujin1977]

I've found one. I just looked down. No intelligent life, unfortunately.

[@d_mosimann]

@@bujin1977 😂good one

[@sapphonymph8204]

You'll wait a long time for that call. Like an eternity.

[@jamesdriscoll_tmp1515]

Thank you for a peek at the models. Last week this came up in conversation, "has alien life been detected?" I said the data might be there, but not clear. 🤓

[@tofuluvrr837]

You're a great teacher, Dr. Becky!

[@MS-ki3kr]

Interesting video to understand the level of analysis that goes into making every assumption, it's amazing thank you for revealing these to the under educated every day Joe like me. Also what stops someone like the Dr in the video from publishing her own findings? Is there monitary entry barrier or restricted data access just curious. Thank for an an amazing video I would keep coming back to try and understand eventually.

[@robertkiss5461]

Huge thank you for the explanation and your objectiveness! I just enjoy to watch your videos. And hate the sensationalist media liars and the claims of the fanatical believers. I am looking forward to see more stuff from you.

[@aflictionado5080]

Love you Dr B!

[@brycelobdell6232]

Been there. Extremely jarring. Life is fragile. I hope to g-d you're okay. Changes are good that you are.

[@b4nh4mm3rplays]

I just started following BBC earth science and was pleasantly surprised to see you on it.

[@toddkvamme]

11:42 Is that a Lego Peugeot 9X8 hypercar on the book shelf over your shoulder?!?! Sorry...had to ask. Love the videos, but racing fan too. 🙂

[@DrBecky]

Yes! It’s Sam’s not mine though 😅

[@tomschmidt381]

I always fall back to the trope: it is never aliens' until it is!

[@LemonArsonist]

This point in our search for life on other planets is so strange, because the data we have are too noisy to get many definitive answers yet, but because we have so much data the media have so many opportunities to jump on it when there's a mildly abnormal peak in a spectrum somewhere. I love seeing these papers but newspapers shouldn't be allowed to cover them until they prove they won't oversensationalise them

[@Smashbrothersgaming]

When grow up I want to study space so watching you is really useful

[@Bald_Wizard_Man]

"It's never aliens, until it is" -Matt O'Dowd PBS Space Time

[@sapphonymph8204]

But it never is.

[@howardtreesong4860]

It's fascinating to see these concepts and their significance as well as the caveats involved be explained in such clear fashion. I'm not dissuaded by the uncertainty of data retrieved and analysed. That's what science is: indicate where doubt hides in the numbers, why and what the next step is to figure out a better answer which generates new and better questions in turn. Science is hard for a reason but it's totally achievable when we are honest about the results.

[@Harabeck]

Very cool. As much as I'd love to find evidence of life, I really appreciate this discussion of all the neat possibilities!

[@rommelmontenegro4800]

How could we be certain of planets outside the milky way when we cant even find one in our very own galaxy

[@FredPilcher]

Great exposition. Thanks Dr Becky!

[@ldbarthel]

The problem with best-fit models is that they only reflect the models you used in the analysis. There is always the possibility that one of the excluded models may fit the data as well or better. The most important point of these early papers is to point to the next avenue of research to either bolster or falsify the preliminary results.

[@ishaankelkar]

this is such a nice video thanks

[@stephyadcock1233]

Love the video, thank you for the brilliant science facts without the hype. I found your channel via a lecture you did on another science lecture channel recently. Based on what you said in that lecture, I thought I'd let you know for the algorithm, I'm female. Hope that helps.

[@Sponkiest]

Remember humans arrived on earth by total accident. If the dinosaurs had not died out humanity wouldn’t have been able to evolve. The chances of this happening on other Goldilock planets is beyond reason.

[@seraphuziel]

Nails on point! also, damned great show.

[@mw-th9ov]

Another excellent presentation of published papers that identifies the issues at stake and the path to resolving the different conclusions.

[@sillyjellyfish2421]

Makes me think - how about a mini neptune world with life? What if something somehow managed to evolve in the supercritical area of the planet? A gas that acts partially as liquid could maybe work for that. I wonder what the model for that would look like

[@UnknownUser-rb9pd]

I really hope the media interest continues because that's how we inspire new people and hopefully encourage Governments to continue funding research into things that have no real current practical benefit at a time of pressing budget issues. The Chinese landing on the moon again and a likely cold war developing between China and Western democracies will hopefully encourage the US and other Western nations to put more resources into space exploration similar to what happened in the 1950s and 1960s where we went from the first satellite to landing on the moon in 12 years because each side was scared of being left behind. When I was growing up I fully expected that progress to continue and that interplanetary spaceflight would be routine nowadays but sadly, despite some impressive unmanned missions and telescopes like Hubble and JWST, we've mostly tread water as far as human exploration is concerned.

[@thereagauze]

it'll inspire some and cause others to say THEY ARE JUST GUESSING! A NEW THEORY EVERY WEEK, which is actually how science works when something better or conflicting comes along.

[@davidkiss6624]

@DrBecky If there was a telescope that would use the mass of our own star or the mass of another distant object to focus, could we learn more about this exoplanet with the gravitational lens effect?

[@kedarsharma487]

Using our own Sun as a gravitational lens is not viable due to its very high brightness wrt background. So any other thing u r trying to collect data for will be washed out

[@davidkiss6624]

​@@kedarsharma487 Értem, akkor használjunk bármilyen más viszonylag nagytömegű objektumot az említett exobolygó és közöttünk, továbbra is az a kérdés, hogy sikerülhet többet megtudni ezzel a módszerrel? Érdemes az új módszerre fejleszteni új teleszkópot?

[@paulclohesy1377]

What I'm baffled about is that this star system is apart of Leo, also the Sphynx in Egypt is facing the Leo constellation

[@ZorroComputers]

Imagine discovering a planet but it's filled by dinosaurs.

[@PatrickWilson-v3d]

Yeah it’s crazy to think that any planet at all can harbour life ??? OHHH Except Earth that’s just the exception.. Like Earth was the centre of our solar system?? Then we realised there are other systems billions of them and billions of galaxies but only Earth can harbour life… Evan if it was discovered would they EVER TELL US.. I SAY ALL THE NAY SAYERS ARE CIA INFILTRATED ASTRO PHYSIC PAID $$$$$$ NAY SAYERS..

[@karmanline2005]

Good job as always, thanks. Extraordinary claims always require extraordinary justification. But, the publicity is good for public engagement, which may help boost interest and even funding!

[@SubVet84]

I find it hilarious that we can tell what molecules are in the atmosphere, but can’t distinguish if it’s a water ocean, volcano ocean, or a gas planet.

[@MrCoxmic]

media: life on an exoplanet astrophysicists: really??!

[@GamingDemiurge]

As a physicist myself I believe that is impossible to find life outside earth by astronomical means. The reason is that there is a bias (yes, a bias not scientific skepticism or Occam razor as I will explain) for which a "natural" explanation will always be accepted over an "alien" explanation. The base for this bias is the sentence "extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof" which I pretty much agree, but not in this case. In order to stablish that an occurrence is extraordinary one needs to know what ordinary is, i.e. one needs to have knowledge of the probability of such thing to happen. We don't have that data. You can always make a theory to explain any astronomical data with "natural" assumptions. Therefore never ever we will be able to find life using it.

[@TheNeo349]

hate to say it but i see your point and kinda agree with it. "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" (Carl Sagan) is one of the foundations of my worldview but when it comes to confirming extraterrestrial life it could be a huge impediment.

[@MCsCreations]

Thanks for all the info, dr. Becky! 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@GeekTeacherMaude]

Thank you Dr. Becky, you make me love science so much!

[@billcook4768]

If only Cheetos gave off a characteristic sign that could be detected through space, it would be much easier to identify places with intelligent life.

[@xenmaifirebringer552]

If you consider Cheetos enjoyers as intelligent life maybe... Hehe, jk Got nothing against Cheetos, though I much rather prefer Doritos myself

[@richardlynch5745]

😂😂😂🤗🤗🤗 6:10

[@NullHand]

Gas giants: spectral lines of ammonia. Ice giants: spectral lines of methane. Stony-ice planets: spectral lines of tholins. Stoner planets: spectral lines of Cheetos....

[@davidwright8432]

Well ... life, anyhow.

[@Roguescienceguy]

We are definitely close to soft disclosure when even the scientists suddenly come forward with find after find.

[@matrixtech6917]

A very interesting video. I am intrigued by the point of nitrogen dissolving in magma.

[@goldwingerppg5953]

Competition in astrophysics is so intense it seems to makes some scientists to jump the gun.

[@gordonwallin2368]

Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.

[@mariusg8824]

I am not sure if I should laugh or be weirded out by the fact that a possible detection of alien life didn't turn up in my news cycle - at all.

[@NeilNicholls-Knight]

I will never kneel before Zod.

[@arunapandya1722]

😂🤣🤣 Good one!!

[@COLDB33R]

Good to get those kind of declarations out there early. You avoid the inevitable rush should Zod ever actually show up.

[@marktunnicliffe2495]

Zod dammit!!

[@planexshifter]

What about Mega Maid?

[@happyshadow]

So we can calculate redshift but Alexa still doesn't know how much time there's left on the timer?!

[@nannawalling]

Thank you for the reality lesson❣️

[@SPTO]

This was a very good and well explained video. Based on what you laid out I'm going to be cautiously optimistic for life but it's probably more likely it's a mini-Neptune. Hopefully the new data coming out will shed light and maybe settle everything. Here's to life being on that planet.

[@Sacto1654]

We're still going to need even larger space telescopes to confirm this. Once SpaceX's _Starship_ is operational, we could launch something really big like LUVOIR (Large Ultraviolet/Optical/Infrared Surveyor), which will have several times the resolution of JWST and could better resolve the atmosphere of other exoplanets.

[@erich3784]

Yep, that's cool! Even if this doesn't end up being the candidate, it's still cool to have it and learn from it!

[@damanybrown5036]

The term zero is not used where you are located Doctor Becky?

[@bryanswopes7050]

Dr. Becky, can you give us some information about the cars on the shelves behind you?

[@nixdorfbrazil]

Dr. Becky ... 🙏🙏My favorite SMBH specialist. Did you saw the latest ANTON video? Could dig more into this discovery that he talks about SMBH magnetic lines that form around Black Holes snaping and being emitted as powerful jets that steal momentum from a spinning Black Hole... Is this going to accelerate the BH evaporation, because BH not lose lose energy from Hawking radiation but also from the magnetic fields snapping?

[@user-tc5pl3zw3h]

Well, first I want to point out that life in different environments will take on unfamiliar forms. It may not be something we recognize as life because it doesn't include the same microorganisms we expect or is even carbon-based. That means that we have restricted our search to planets that are in a habitable zone for carbon-based forms of life. That means we may miss advanced civilizations that don't meet our limited criteria for what a life form is. Also, it bears mentioning that all data we get from K2-18b is 110 years old by the time we see it. And how long did it take Earth microbes to become Earth humans?

[@davidhoward4715]

Life anywhere will almost certainly be carbon-based. Because it can form many times more molecules than any other, it is the only element versatile enough to build and sustain living organisms. How long did it take Earth microbes to become humans? Around three billion years.

[@keenirr5332]

Given that hycean atmospheres are essentially the same as gas planets' atmospheres, wouldn't a hycean world be just as well-protected from flares as any mini-Neptune?

[@barefootalien]

Hmm... I don't think so. I don't think it'd be about "protection" from flares... I don't think that's even a thing on the scale of red dwarf level violence and orbits that close. Rather, if you have a planet that's similar in composition to (but bigger than), say, Venus, you have about 99.9% planet to 0.1% atmosphere, or about 1/1000th of the planet's total mass that's _capable_ of being stripped by the star. If you have a gas giant of the same mass, it's nearly 100% atmosphere. As the outer layers get stripped, more and more and more just expands to replace it until the entire planet is gone. So, imagine the star can strip one one-millionth of the planet's mass per million years... that would mean it would completely strip the atmosphere of the hycean world in about 1 billion years. To see what we've seen, it'd need to be a very young planet, and either a very unusual capture, or around a very young star, all of which reduce the likelihood of that explanation. In the same billion years, it would have reduced an 8.5 Earth-mass mini-neptune to an... 8.499 Earth-mass mini-neptune, despite having stripped the same amount of atmosphere from each, with no protection at all. It probably wouldn't even change its apparent size even a little, and we'd see... well, exactly what we see, and we'd continue to see that indefinitely into the future, up to a _trillion_ years from now.

[@Amethyst_Friend]

A missed opportunity to use a clip of Dr.Evil saying “Mag-marrr”…

[@jacquechanny945]

International Reggae artist Siddy Ranks, real name Cyrenius Green was born in the parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica. His sound is inevitably compared to that of the late Gregory Isaacs, although he is versatile and sings across the Reggae sub-genres

[@Hailfire08]

Ultimately I feel this all goes to show just how little we understand about exoplanets, and how (even though it's really good) JWST data has a hard time distinguishing features that are less than blindingly obvious. And of course, no matter how restrained you are when talking to the media, they'll always still blow it out of proportion.

[@kedarsharma487]

Becky, is it not possible to use spectroscopy data from other space observatories which can detect other parts of the EM spectrum to distinguish between CH4 and DMS?

[@ARWest-bp4yb]

"A 2021 study lead by Ekaterina Ilin (Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, Germany) presented evidence that M dwarf flares tend to emanate from their polar regions, possibly sparing close in planets from direct hits. Their initial data was taken from a small sampling of M dwarf stars from TESS observations, and further studies showed that this may well be the norm." (from Universe Today 8/7/21)

[@DrBecky]

Interesting! I missed that paper, thanks for flagging

[@ARWest-bp4yb]

@@DrBecky Seems like everybody missed it!

[@marknovak6498]

It is frustrating when you are basically trying to understand the spectrum from a single pixel of data without details of the planetary image to work with.

[@NotKnafo]

na neptune is not gas all the way down it must have a solid layer at some point if not from metalic elements then from pressure

[@davidhoward4715]

Na. Do some basic research.

[@NotKnafo]

@@davidhoward4715 its like Berkley's subjectivism, i only see clouds and no surface so there must be no surface