However, he has since

K2-18b lies in a constellation called Leo, and is so far away from Earth that a spaceship would need to travel for 124 years at the speed of light to get there. In reality, it would take much, much longer since the laws of physics don’t allow anything other than light to travel that fast.The planet is 8.6 times heavier than Earth, and 2.6 times as large. Critically, it sits in what is known as the “Goldilocks Zone” of its sun: that’s the region around a star where a planet’s temperature could, in theory, support water in its liquid form on the surface.

In 2023, Cambridge astronomers found methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the planet.That was the first time that carbon-based molecules had been discovered in the atmosphere of any planet in the habitable zone of its sun – the distance from a sun where it’s neither too hot, nor too cold, and so possible for life to survive. The scientists said that a surface covered first by an ocean, and then a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, would explain the presence of carbon-based molecules. Simply put, it was possible that the planet could have water.What have the scientists found now?

Researchers have now found much harder evidence suggesting that the planet might not only have the conditions to host life – but could, at least in theory, be hosting life itself.To explore planets light years away from Earth, scientists wait for them to pass in front of their suns. They study the light from the suns as it streams through the atmospheres of these planets, searching for clues.

That’s how the team found traces of either dimethyl sulfide (DMS) or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) – or both – in the atmosphere of K2-18b.

On Earth, these compounds are only produced by living beings, particularly microbes such as marine phytoplankton. What’s more, what the scientists found suggests that the concentration of these chemicals in the K2-18b atmosphere was thousands of times higher than on Earth.May 21 is designated as International Tea Day by the United Nations, marking the significance and value of the drink globally, not just economically but culturally too.

Tea plays a meaningful role in many societies. From Tibetan po cha to a good old English breakfast brew, tea is considered a unifying and hospitable beverage.While the exact origins of tea are unknown, it is believed to have originated in northeast India, northern Myanmar and southwest China, according to the UN. There is evidence that tea was consumed in China 5,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest beverages in the world.

How to say tea around the worldAcross the globe, nearly all words for tea can be derived from the root words “cha” or “te”.