K2-18b
I think this Daily Mail article demonstrates how poor journalism is getting in 2025. This is their article on the Planet K2-18b.
While the JWST has found some indications that life may exist on the planet, due to the Hydrogen Atmosphere and also the discovery of
- Di Methyl Sulfide
- Dimethyl Disulfide
The WikiPedia article tells a much different story.
Even the first part of this quote is helpful in that it says the press release was irresponsible. And that the data collected so far is not enough to confirm any life.
Astrophysicist and science writer Ethan Siegel denounced the press release as "wildly irresponsible" and astronomer Ryan MacDonald pointed out that the team's analysis was flawed because it only compared a select few chemicals to the data.[5] According to MacDonald, a proper statistical analysis of DMS and DMDS in K2-18b's spectrum would instead give a false positive probability of about 28%, corresponding to a 1σ confidence for the these two chemicals.[5] A 1σ significance does not qualify as a meaningful detection.[5]
The fact that the DM article also somehow has a section where someone has used AI to extrapolate what life may look like is rather ridiculous, as is the fact that according to that, the frog has 3 eyes and looks as it does to allow for the lower light level on the planet, this is odd given the fact the Wikipedia article suggests the light level on K2-18b may be the same or similar as it is on Earth, due to the distance from its star and the size of the star as well as other factors.
I think whoever thinks using AI to extrapolate what alien life may look like is risking their entire science career and credibility and this person was apparently from Cambridge University, so the reputation of Cambridge university is also going to be questioned.
I am baffled as to how much of this gets passed editorial in mainstream press.
In the meantime, if you really want to learn more, I strongly suggest you read actual science papers.
Granted, I think arXiv is pre-prints, but at least these papers are written by people who have a clue as to what they are talking about. It is also essential to be able to dig deeper and do your own research so when asking questions you can refer to decent sources of information.
I think it is also important to remember this planet is >120 light years away, so the information being picked up took >120 years to reach the JWST, therefore we are looking back in time. So it is important to understand that what is there right now in 2025 may be different to what may or may not have been there in 1905 when that light started its journey. Or at least this is how I understand things
If you want to read and have a good laugh, then read the Daily mail and other mainstream media.
- New Constraints on DMS and DMDS in the Atmosphere of K2-18 b from JWST MIRI
- Other arXiv resources on K2 18b
Tags
#Media,#Science,#Facts,#Credibility,#Papers,#NewsPapers
| Mastodon | ShellLabs | Join Mastodon |
