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Space & Physics

Did JWST detect “signs of life” in an alien planet?

The presence of an organic compound, dimethyl sulfide in an alien planet, has astronomers wondering whether they have indirectly confirmed life thriving outside our solar system.

Karthik Vinod

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Artistic illustration of a stylized alien planet | Credit: Bhautik Patel / Unsplash

On Wednesday, a paper published in the pre-print server, arXiv did the rounds on social media after its authors claimed possible signs of life in an alien planet.

Its host star system – K2-18 – is located some 125 light years away in the direction of Leo. In 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) detected possible signs of an exotic rare organic molecule – dimethyl sulphide – in planet K2-18b’s atmosphere. Although evidence was not conclusive enough, scientists were intrigued. This is because on earth, dimethyl sulphide is produced in biochemical reactions occurring in living organisms. As such, astronomers have taken to pondering whether K2-18b has its own share of living organisms thriving today. But these remain speculations at best.

Separating fact from fiction

Astronomers contend dimethyl sulphide’s presence isn’t necessarily the smoking gun for biological life. There is too limited data for astronomers to ever settle on positively detecting a bio-signature. Our limited understanding of what life could look like also contributes to this uncertainty, since our assumption of what constitutes bio-signatures is biased to what conditions we expect to prevail on earth.

“Phytoplankton – the foundation of the oceanic food chain,” | Credit: NOAA / Unsplash

Simpler life forms exhibit some versatility that complex organisms don’t show. For example, phytoplankton in marine environments are known to thrive in oxygen-deprived conditions. But in K2-18b’s atmosphere, dimethyl sulphide occurs at concentrations many times those present on earth. Scientists are blind to the nature of chemical reactions unfolding in the atmosphere in the first place.

As such, contending theories about the surface conditions prevailing on the planet remain. In one interpretation of the facts, studies predict the planet hosts a hospitable climate. Perhaps even with an ocean, going by the 2019 detection of water vapour in its atmosphere. That is, if temperatures on K2-18b are low enough, thanks to its optimal distance from its host star, which like our sun is a dwarf star, except slightly dimmer and redder in appearance. But then if another interpretation is to go by, then the surface must be subsumed by a lava ocean. Scientists are none the wiser about these facts either.

Worlds apart

Our state-of-the-art space telescopes themselves have limited ability to capture adequate signal. For one, the K2-18 star system and our earth are separated by about 125 light years. This is about a million times that of the distance between the earth and the sun. This leaves both the host star and the planet faint sources for even JWST’s sensitive detectors. But JWST compensates for this, tracking the planet’s transit across its host star – which luckily exists along our line of sight.

From this, astronomers can retrieve tell-tale signs of the planet’s chemical makeup. This is because some of the starlight grazes past the planet’s atmosphere before it reaches JWST’s sensors. But despite JWST’s powerful sensitivity, it would require a statistically large enough sample to easily discriminate against any noise backdrop surrounding the telescope. As such, it’s unclear whether the identified concentrations, not least the presence of dimethyl sulphide will hold validated in future observations of K2-18b.

Saying that, more sophisticated telescopes, such as NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, could possibly resolve any technical limitations to affirming presence of dimethyl sulphide in addition to other chemical compounds. Thereby precision science would unlock doors, making measurements precise and put hypotheses up to the challenge.

Space & Physics

MIT unveils an ultra-efficient 5G receiver that may supercharge future smart devices

A key innovation lies in the chip’s clever use of a phenomenon called the Miller effect, which allows small capacitors to perform like larger ones

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Image credit: Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

A team of MIT researchers has developed a groundbreaking wireless receiver that could transform the future of Internet of Things (IoT) devices by dramatically improving energy efficiency and resilience to signal interference.

Designed for use in compact, battery-powered smart gadgets—like health monitors, environmental sensors, and industrial trackers—the new chip consumes less than a milliwatt of power and is roughly 30 times more resistant to certain types of interference than conventional receivers.

“This receiver could help expand the capabilities of IoT gadgets,” said Soroush Araei, an electrical engineering graduate student at MIT and lead author of the study, in a media statement. “Devices could become smaller, last longer on a battery, and work more reliably in crowded wireless environments like factory floors or smart cities.”

The chip, recently unveiled at the IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium, stands out for its novel use of passive filtering and ultra-small capacitors controlled by tiny switches. These switches require far less power than those typically found in existing IoT receivers.

A key innovation lies in the chip’s clever use of a phenomenon called the Miller effect, which allows small capacitors to perform like larger ones. This means the receiver achieves necessary filtering without relying on bulky components, keeping the circuit size under 0.05 square millimeters.

Credit: Courtesy of the researchers/MIT News

Traditional IoT receivers rely on fixed-frequency filters to block interference, but next-generation 5G-compatible devices need to operate across wider frequency ranges. The MIT design meets this demand using an innovative on-chip switch-capacitor network that blocks unwanted harmonic interference early in the signal chain—before it gets amplified and digitized.

Another critical breakthrough is a technique called bootstrap clocking, which ensures the miniature switches operate correctly even at a low power supply of just 0.6 volts. This helps maintain reliability without adding complex circuitry or draining battery life.

The chip’s minimalist design—using fewer and smaller components—also reduces signal leakage and manufacturing costs, making it well-suited for mass production.

Looking ahead, the MIT team is exploring ways to run the receiver without any dedicated power source—possibly by harvesting ambient energy from nearby Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals.

The research was conducted by Araei alongside Mohammad Barzgari, Haibo Yang, and senior author Professor Negar Reiskarimian of MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories.

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Society

Ahmedabad Plane Crash: The Science Behind Aircraft Take-Off -Understanding the Physics of Flight

Take-off is one of the most critical phases of flight, relying on the precise orchestration of aerodynamics, propulsion, and control systems. Here’s how it works:

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On June 12, 2025, a tragic aviation accident struck Ahmedabad, India when a regional passenger aircraft, Air India flight A1-171, crashed during take-off at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. According to preliminary reports, the incident resulted in over 200 confirmed casualties, including both passengers and crew members, and several others are critically injured. The aviation community and scientific world now turn their eyes not just toward the cause but also toward understanding the complex science behind what should have been a routine take-off.

How Do Aircraft Take Off?

Take-off is one of the most critical phases of flight, relying on the precise orchestration of aerodynamics, propulsion, and control systems. Here’s how it works:

1. Lift and Thrust

To leave the ground, an aircraft must generate lift, a force that counters gravity. This is achieved through the unique shape of the wing, called an airfoil, which creates a pressure difference — higher pressure under the wing and lower pressure above — according to Bernoulli’s Principle and Newton’s Third Law.

Simultaneously, engines provide thrust, propelling the aircraft forward. Most commercial jets use turbofan engines, which accelerate air through turbines to generate power.

2. Critical Speeds

Before takeoff, pilots calculate critical speeds:

  • V1 (Decision Speed): The last moment a takeoff can be safely aborted.
  • Vr (Rotation Speed): The speed at which the pilot begins to lift the nose.
  • V2 (Takeoff Safety Speed): The speed needed to climb safely even if one engine fails.

If anything disrupts this process — like bird strikes, engine failure, or runway obstructions — the results can be catastrophic.

Environmental and Mechanical Challenges

Factors like wind shear, runway surface condition, mechanical integrity, or pilot error can interfere with safe take-off. Investigators will be analyzing these very aspects in the Ahmedabad case.

The Bigger Picture

Take-off accounts for a small fraction of total flight time but is disproportionately associated with accidents — approximately 14% of all aviation accidents occur during take-off or initial climb.

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Space & Physics

MIT claims breakthrough in simulating physics of squishy, elastic materials

In a series of experiments, the new solver demonstrated its ability to simulate a diverse array of elastic behaviors, ranging from bouncing geometric shapes to soft, squishy characters

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Image credit: Courtesy of researchers

Researchers at MIT claim to have unveiled a novel physics-based simulation method that significantly improves stability and accuracy when modeling elastic materials — a key development for industries spanning animation, engineering, and digital fabrication.

In a series of experiments, the new solver demonstrated its ability to simulate a diverse array of elastic behaviors, ranging from bouncing geometric shapes to soft, squishy characters. Crucially, it maintained important physical properties and remained stable over long periods of time — an area where many existing methods falter.

Other simulation techniques frequently struggled in tests: some became unstable and caused erratic behavior, while others introduced excessive damping that distorted the motion. In contrast, the new method preserved elasticity without compromising reliability.

“Because our method demonstrates more stability, it can give animators more reliability and confidence when simulating anything elastic, whether it’s something from the real world or even something completely imaginary,” Leticia Mattos Da Silva, a graduate student at MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, said in a media statement.

Their study, though not yet peer-reviewed or published, will be presented at the August proceedings of the SIGGRAPH conference in Vancouver, Canada.

While the solver does not prioritize speed as aggressively as some tools, it avoids the accuracy and robustness trade-offs often associated with faster methods. It also sidesteps the complexity of nonlinear solvers, which are commonly used in physics-based approaches but are often sensitive and prone to failure.

Looking ahead, the research team aims to reduce computational costs and broaden the solver’s applications. One promising direction is in engineering and fabrication, where accurate elastic simulations could enhance the design of real-world products such as garments, medical devices, and toys.

“We were able to revive an old class of integrators in our work. My guess is there are other examples where researchers can revisit a problem to find a hidden convexity structure that could offer a lot of advantages,” Mattos Da Silva added.

The study opens new possibilities not only for digital content creation but also for practical design fields that rely on predictive simulations of flexible materials.

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