Scientists find ?strongest evidence yet? of alien life on distant planet

Scientists have detected an encouraging potential sign of life on a planet in a different solar system in what they believe is the “strongest indicator” that life exists beyond Earth.

Researchers analyzing the planet K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years from Earth, have found a molecule that on Earth is associated with living organisms in the planet’s atmosphere.

The potentially Earth-shattering study was published Wednesday in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

"This is the strongest evidence yet there is possibly life out there. I can realistically say that we can confirm this signal within one to two years,” astronomer Nikku Madhusudhan, a professor at the University of Cambridge and the lead author of the new study, told the BBC.

The findings could even suggest that K2-18b is covered with an ocean, a potential home to living organisms.