Ridge Runner Chronicles: Do We Now Have Evidence of Alien Life in the Universe?

By Editor | April 30, 2025 |

By Bill Hoagland

If you follow developments on the James Webb Space Telescope website, you will see that within the past few weeks, astrophysicists have become absolutely “giddy” with the claim that they now have the best evidence yet of alien life in our universe. Is this just “click bait” or is there some substantive evidence to back up this claim? Let’s see if we can simplify their headline that “we now have proof of alien life” to better understand why they think there is evidence of alien life in the universe. (I hope they are right, but the subject of their study is so far away that we will never know for sure if it is accurate.)

For several years, astronomers have been studying a specific exoplanet known as “K2 18b” because this exoplanet appears to have some basic ingredients necessary for life as we know it. “K2 18b” is a planet that orbits a dwarf red star 124 light years away from Earth. It takes “K2 18b” almost 33 days to orbit once around this dwarf star, but when “K2 18b” is positioned directly between that dwarf star and Earth, we are able to analyze the sunlight shining through the atmosphere of “K2 18b” so as to determine the chemical makeup of that atmosphere. This scientific process, referred to as a “transit observation”, is the accepted means of finding out all we can about exoplanets thanks to the abilities of the JWST to break down and analyze light from distant stars and planets.

As a result of the transit observations specifically relating to “K2 18b”, we know this planet is about 2.5 times as large as Earth but with a mass 8.2 times that of Earth. It has a liquid ocean that appears to cover the entire planet and a hydrogen-heavy atmosphere, with a projected temperature range between zero and 52 degrees Fahrenheit. (This temperature range is referred to by astrophysicists as being in the “Goldilocks Zone”, meaning that this particular exoplanet is “not too hot and not too cold but rather just right” for the development of life as we know it.) “K2 18b” is tidal locked, meaning that the same side of “K2 18b” always faces the dwarf sun that it orbits, similar to the way the Moon orbits Earth with the same side always facing Earth.

Here is the interesting reason why astrophysicists believe there is alien life on “K2 18b”. In analyzing “K2 18b” via the transit observation technique, they have found what appears to be sizable amounts of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) in the atmosphere of “K2 18b”. On Earth, we have DMS and DMDS at a rate of one part per billion in the atmosphere; on “K2 18b”, the rate of DMS and DMDS in the atmosphere appears to be over ten parts per billion, ten times greater than the amount here on Earth. And why is this significant? On Earth, DMS and DMDS are molecules that, as far as we know, are only produced by living organisms; they don’t develop on their own. An example of a well-known source for DMS and DMDS here on Earth would be the flatulence from livestock. Something is causing the creation of the DMS and DMDS molecules on “K2 18b” and it ain’t a feedlot full of cattle. No, these astrophysicists believe that it is being created by a significant amount of marine plankton and other marine microorganisms in the oceans of “K2 18b”. This is the alien life being referred to by these headlines.

For all we know, the oceans of “K2 18b” may be teeming with aquatic life beyond our wildest imaginations. Or maybe not, but it is strangely refreshing to learn that we may now have actual scientific evidence that some form of life exists beyond our Earthly borders.

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ν Bill Hoagland has practiced law in Alton for more than 50 years, but he has spent more than 70 years hunting, fishing and generally being in the great outdoors. His wife, Annie, shares his love of the outdoor life. Much of their spare time is spent on their farm in Calhoun County. Bill can be reached at [email protected].

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