I hate the fact that this is getting wayyy more attention that JWST’s recent discovery of CO2 and Methane in K2-18 b’s atmosphere. Like that is actual evidence for alien life for fucks sake. We might actual have found the first extra solar life, and instead focus on some grifter.
These types of news (UFOs, supposed alien remnants, etc) seem to often be ran as distractions. So there could be something actually newsworthy happening right now that we aren’t being told
So i’m not the most well versed in chemistry or biology but i know a fair bit of physics and geology, and i know that both CO2 and methane can form through geological processes. Which is why i was not that impressed by this news at first. But is there something more special about dimethyl sulfide that requires biotic processes? Couldn’t it also just come from something like volcanic activity?
my background is mostly biology, so correct me if wrong, but there is a way to industrially produce dimethyl sulfide of course but when occurring naturally on earth, it is exclusively produced by algae and other ocean dwelling microorganisms. it is also sometimes found in some plants i believe. it’s considered to be a pretty significant biosignature.
Yeah, those are just cool. Th real good stuff is the evidence for liquid oceans and the hope that there may be dimethyl sulfide, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet. But it would prove life with very high certainty.
I hate the fact that this is getting wayyy more attention that JWST’s recent discovery of CO2 and Methane in K2-18 b’s atmosphere. Like that is actual evidence for alien life for fucks sake. We might actual have found the first extra solar life, and instead focus on some grifter.
These types of news (UFOs, supposed alien remnants, etc) seem to often be ran as distractions. So there could be something actually newsworthy happening right now that we aren’t being told
the possible detection of dimethyl sulfide on K2-18 b by JWST is incredible. one of the most convincing leads i’ve seen so far.
So i’m not the most well versed in chemistry or biology but i know a fair bit of physics and geology, and i know that both CO2 and methane can form through geological processes. Which is why i was not that impressed by this news at first. But is there something more special about dimethyl sulfide that requires biotic processes? Couldn’t it also just come from something like volcanic activity?
my background is mostly biology, so correct me if wrong, but there is a way to industrially produce dimethyl sulfide of course but when occurring naturally on earth, it is exclusively produced by algae and other ocean dwelling microorganisms. it is also sometimes found in some plants i believe. it’s considered to be a pretty significant biosignature.
That’s interesting.
I’m excited but cautious about that discovery. Methane was detected on Venus a few years ago, but it turned out to likely not be a sign of life.
Yeah, those are just cool. Th real good stuff is the evidence for liquid oceans and the hope that there may be dimethyl sulfide, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet. But it would prove life with very high certainty.