The detection of life beyond Earth would be one of the most profound discoveries in the history of science. The Milky Way galaxy alone hosts hundreds of millions of potentially habitable planets . Astronomers are using powerful space telescopes to look for molecular indicators of biology in the atmospheres of the most Earth-like of these planets.
Author
- Chris Impey
University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona
But so far, no solid evidence of life has ever been found beyond the Earth. A paper published in April 2025 claimed to detect a signature of life in the atmosphere of the planet K2-18b . And while this discovery is intriguing, most astronomers - including the paper's authors - aren't ready to claim that it means extraterrestrial life exists. A detection of life would be a remarkable development.
The astronomer Carl Sagan used the phrase, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence," in regard to searching for alien life. It conveys the idea that there should be a high bar for evidence to support a remarkable claim.
I'm an astronomer who has written a book about astrobiology . Over my career, I've seen some compelling scientific discoveries. But to reach this threshold of finding life beyond Earth, a result needs to fit several important criteria.
When is a result important and reliable?
There are three criteria for a scientific result to represent a true discovery and not be subject to uncertainty and doubt. How does the claim of life on K2-18b measure up?
First, the experiment needs to measure a meaningful and important quantity. Researchers observed K2-18b's atmosphere with the James Webb Space Telescope and saw a spectral feature that they identified as dimethyl sulfide.
On Earth, dimethyl sulfide is associated with biology , in particular bacteria and plankton in the oceans. However, it can also arise by other means, so this single molecule is not conclusive proof of life .
Second, the detection needs to be strong. Every detector has some noise from the random motion of electrons. The signal should be strong enough to have a low probability of arising by chance from this noise.
The K2-18b detection has a significance of 3-sigma , which means it has a 0.3% probability of arising by chance.
That sounds low, but most scientists would consider that a weak detection . There are many molecules that could create a feature in the same spectral range.
The "gold standard" for scientific detection is 5-sigma , which means the probability of the finding happening by chance is less than 0.00006%. For example, physicists at CERN gathered data patiently for two years until they had a 5-sigma detection of the Higgs boson particle , leading to a Nobel Prize one year later in 2013.
Third, a result needs to be repeatable . Results are considered reliable when they've been repeated - ideally corroborated by other investigators or confirmed using a different instrument. For K2-18b, this might mean detecting other molecules that indicate biology, such as oxygen in the planet's atmosphere. Without more and better data, most researchers are viewing the claim of life on K2-18b with skepticism .
Claims of life on Mars
In the past, some scientists have claimed to have found life much closer to home, on the planet Mars.
Over a century ago, retired Boston merchant turned astronomer Percival Lowell claimed that linear features he saw on the surface of Mars were canals, constructed by a dying civilization to transport water from the poles to the equator. Artificial waterways on Mars would certainly have been a major discovery, but this example failed the other two criteria: strong evidence and repeatability.
Lowell was misled by his visual observations, and he was engaging in wishful thinking. No other astronomers could confirm his findings .
In 1996, NASA held a press conference where a team of scientists presented evidence for biology in the Martian meteorite ALH 84001 . Their evidence included an evocative image that seemed to show microfossils in the meteorite.
However, scientists have come up with explanations for the meteorite's unusual features that do not involve biology . That extraordinary claim has dissipated.
More recently, astronomers detected low levels of methane in the atmosphere of Mars. Like dimethyl sulfide and oxygen, methane on Earth is made primarily - but not exclusively - by life. Different spacecraft and rovers on the Martian surface have returned conflicting results , where a detection with one spacecraft was not confirmed by another.
The low level and variability of methane on Mars is still a mystery. And in the absence of definitive evidence that this very low level of methane has a biological origin, nobody is claiming definitive evidence of life on Mars.
Claims of advanced civilizations
Detecting microbial life on Mars or an exoplanet would be dramatic, but the discovery of extraterrestrial civilizations would be truly spectacular.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI , has been underway for 75 years. No messages have ever been received, but in 1977 a radio telescope in Ohio detected a strong signal that lasted only for a minute.
This signal was so unusual that an astronomer working at the telescope wrote "Wow!" on the printout, giving the signal its name. Unfortunately, nothing like it has since been detected from that region of the sky, so the Wow! Signal fails the test of repeatability.
In 2017, a rocky, cigar-shaped object called 'Oumuamua was the first known interstellar object to visit the solar system. 'Oumuamua's strange shape and trajectory led Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb to argue that it was an alien artifact . However, the object has already left the solar system, so there's no chance for astronomers to observe it again. And some researchers have gathered evidence suggesting that it's just a comet .
While many scientists think we aren't alone, given the enormous amount of habitable real estate beyond Earth, no detection has cleared the threshold enunciated by Carl Sagan.
Claims about the universe
These same criteria apply to research about the entire universe. One particular concern in cosmology is the fact that, unlike the case of planets, there is only one universe to study.
A cautionary tale comes from attempts to show that the universe went through a period of extremely rapid expansion a fraction of a second after the Big Bang . Cosmologists call this event inflation , and it is invoked to explain why the universe is now smooth and flat.
In 2014, astronomers claimed to have found evidence for inflation in a subtle signal from microwaves left over after the Big Bang. Within a year, however, the team retracted the result because the signal had a mundane explanation: They had confused dust in our galaxy with a signature of inflation.
On the other hand, the discovery of the universe's acceleration shows the success of the scientific method. In 1929, astronomer Edwin Hubble found that the universe was expanding. Then, in 1998, evidence emerged that this cosmic expansion is accelerating. Physicists were startled by this result .
Two research groups used supernovae to separately trace the expansion. In a friendly rivalry, they used different sets of supernovae but got the same result. Independent corroboration increased their confidence that the universe was accelerating . They called the force behind this accelerating expansion dark energy and received a Nobel Prize in 2011 for its discovery.
On scales large and small, astronomers try to set a high bar of evidence before claiming a discovery.
Chris Impey receives funding from the Natonal Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
