• [Dailystar Icon]
• News
• Latest News
• Exclusives

Alien life on new planet 'may not have DNA like humans but might walk on two legs'

EXCLUSIVE: Alien life on a newly discovered planet could have biology unlike anything we have ever seen before on Earth, however, it might have still evolved to have traits very similar to many creatures on our planet

[Alien ]

K2-18b is a distant alien world that could be teeming with life(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Alien life on a new planet may not have DNA like humans but might walk on two legs, experts have revealed.

It follows the discovery of an extraterrestrial world around 120 light years away from Earth, which has been proven to host chemicals only made by living organisms. Astronomers led by the University of Cambridge recently located the planet which they say has "the strongest ever signs" of potential alien life.

The planet K2-18b has been pinpointed as a potential incubator for alien life by scientists. Boffins say they've discovered molecules in the planet's atmosphere that are primarily produced by microbial life on Earth.

[K2-18b ]

K2-18b is roughly 120 light years away from earth(Image: ESA/Hubble/AFP via Getty Images)

If this planet does indeed support alien life then it could have some features resembling life on Earth, say experts - however, some facets of alien biology could be like nothing weve ever seen before.

We spoke to Dr Matt Burleigh, an astronomer at the University of Leeds, to find out more. "As for whether any alien life will resemble life on Earth, well we wont know for certain until we find it," says Dr Burleigh.

"There are strong arguments that life on other planets would still be based on carbon, utilise similar proteins and amino acids, and would need water to act as a solvent, since these things are common in the Universe.

There are also good arguments that evolution would find the same solutions as it has on Earth. For example, the camera eye (like our eyes) has independently evolved many times in our fossil record.

Perhaps its just a really good way of seeing! So maybe if one day we meet an alien, it will walk around on two legs and see with eyes that are very much like our own."

[Microbes ]

Dimethyl sulphide and dimethyl disulphide molecules in the planet's atmosphere are the 'strongest ever signs' of alien life(Image: Getty Images/Science Photo Libra)

However, he added: But that life might not use DNA, for example, as its information store. Our DNA stores all the instructions for building our bodies and making them work, and is passed on from generation to generation.

"But alien life might utilise some other complex molecules to do the same task.

The doctor said any alien life that is potentially found on the planet could be poisonous if consumed due to its different biology. He added that even if the planet did have life, we should be very wary of consuming it as a delicacy.

Dr Burleigh warned while we do have the technology to send radio signals to the distant planet, it may not be a good idea. He said: We could certainly send a radio message to K2-18b tomorrow. Whether that is a good idea is another question.

[James Webb Space Telescope]

The planet was found using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope(Image: NASA/Goddard/Chris Gunn HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Due to radio waves travelling at the speed of light our messages to the planet would take a whopping 124 years to be received and would take another gruelling 124 years for them to return the message what a tragic reply time.

"Would we really want to contact them? How do we know they would not immediately set out to destroy us?, the doctor questioned.

The Universe prevents us from travelling faster than the speed of light, so it would take thousands of years to reach the planet K2-18b which is around 124 light years away.

[K2-18b super-Earth]

The planet would take thousands of years to reach even with technology far more advanced than our own(Image: University of Cambridge/AFP via)

The doctor claimed even if we possessed the technology that allowed us to travel at the tenth of the speed of light which we dont have it would take thousands of years to reach K2-18b.

Despite the fanfare over the potential of this cosmic cradle's ability to support life, the doctor said there may be other reasons responsible for the creation of the molecules found in the planets atmosphere.

He said: What appears to be a signature of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) in the atmosphere of the planet K2-18b could be produced by microbial life, as it is on Earth.

[JWST in space near Earth]

Scientists have only found interesting chemistry in K2-18bs atmosphere and don't have evidence of alien life (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

But that doesnt mean there is not an explanation from geology or atmospheric chemistry that does not involve life.

Let me emphasise again that we only have evidence for some interesting chemistry in K2-18bs atmosphere, that could be produced by microbial life.

"But there may well be other explanations. There is no evidence for advanced alien civilisations."

[Dailystar Icon]

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Choose Daily Star as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.