In May 2025 I reported on a claim published in April 2025 that certain chemical molecules dimethyl sulfide (DMS) or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS)—compounds on Earth known to originate only from biological activity—were detected in the light coming from an exoplanet K2-18b.
Read Signature of Alien Life ‘Found’ on a Planet 124 Light-Years from Earth
But already that claim is being disputed by other scientists.
A bold claim made in April 2025 about potential signs of life on the exoplanet K2-18b is now under fire from a fresh scientific analysis. Researchers from the University of Chicago have re-examined the same atmospheric data and concluded that the evidence pointing to biological molecules may be far less solid than initially reported. The original findings, presented by a team from Cambridge University, suggested that observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) revealed traces of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS)—compounds on Earth known to originate only from biological activity. But the new study, titled “Insufficient Evidence for DMS and DMDS in the Atmosphere of K2-18b” and currently available on the arXiv preprint server, urges caution and argues that the data does not support such definitive conclusions. (my emphasis added)
New research from the University of Chicago team suggests that the initial detection of dimethyl sulfide—a potential biosignature—could be the result of overlapping signals from more common, non-biological molecules. The alleged signal is dominated by a lot of noise and therefore it is inconclusive to make any definitive claim.
“We found the data we have so far is much too noisy for the proof that would be needed to make that claim,” said Rafael Luque, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher. “There’s just not enough certainty to say one way or the other.”
The researchers went on to explain that many compounds share similar spectral features. Anything molecule with three hydrogen atoms bonded to a carbon atom will show up at a certain wavelength, and that is what dimethyl sulfide has. However there are a myriad of other molecules that contain a carbon with three hydrogens, and they would all exhibit similar features.
Therefore, even with much better data, much less noisy data, it would be very difficult to be certain that dimethyl sulfide was being detected. There are just too many other molecules with that carbon-3-hydrogen arrangement.
One such molecule is ethane, which has already been detected on other planets such as Neptune and Uranus—both of which are completely inhospitable to life of any kind. This means the spectral signal attributed to DMS could just as easily be from a far more mundane and non-biological molecule.
The study’s authors urged caution.
While the search for biosignatures is a vital part of astrobiology, premature announcements can set back public trust and scientific credibility.
This is the problem when motivated by the ideology of the evolutionary paradigm. The existence of life elsewhere int he universe is predicated on the alleged spontaneous origin of life on Earth from pond scum some 4 billion years ago.
Lead author Luque stated:
“We are making enormous progress in this field, and we don’t want that to be overshadowed by premature declarations.”
The case of K2-18b serves as a powerful example of both the potential and the limitations of current technology. Although tools like JWST are groundbreaking, they are not immune to the challenges of ambiguity and interference when analyzing objects located light-years away.
Nevertheless they hold fast to the evolutionary belief system.
Life was only ever created on Earth, supernaturally by the Creator, less than 10,000 years ago. The record of that is found in the Genesis account.
See my series of posts refuting the evolutionary claims of Sean M. Carroll, starting with Part 1, through to Part 11.
The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning and the Universe Itself? Part 1
Related Reading
- Is Earth Unique? The Case Against Extra-Terrestrial Life
- New Habitable Worlds, Aliens, and New Organisms Existing in Interplanetary Space
- Why Search for Life in Outer Space?
- Life on Earth 2.0—Really?
- Life in the Universe is the Ultimate Miracle
- The Physics of Creation | Day 5 (Premium subscription required)
- The Physics of Creation | Day 6 (Premium subscription required)
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