This humble professor may be about to become one of the most famous people on earth.
Nikku Madhusudhan, professor of astrophysics and exoplanet science at the University of Cambridge, believes he has discovered alien life on an exoplanet 120 light-years away from Earth.
In an interview with LBC's Tom Swarbrick, the academic revealed there was a “50/50” chance of life on the distant planet.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, designed for infrared astronomy, is currently observing the planet.
Madhusudan said the analysis will take several months, but early indications are that the discovery could be “groundbreaking.”
The breakthrough follows the discovery of carbon dioxide on Earth during scans last year.
In July 2022, a high-resolution and high-sensitivity instrument discovered the El Gordo galaxy cluster, which is a galaxy cluster that existed 6.2 billion years after the Big Bang and is about 7.3 billion light-years away from the Earth.
Professor Madhusudhan's research reached a critical moment when he discovered the presence on Earth of the gas dimethyl sulfide, an organic sulfur compound that would only be produced if life existed.
As the professor explains: “This gas is mainly found in Earth's oceans and would serve as a powerful biomarker if detected in planetary environments.”
In other words, the presence of this gas on the planet points to the presence of humans and suggests that at least one ocean may exist beneath its atmosphere.
Professor Madhusudan said of the moment he made the discovery: “Looking for biomarkers elsewhere is a far-reaching activity because the impact on society is huge. Even if we detect this species, we also have to be certain that it actually exists and came from life on another planet.
He continued: “Many false positives are likely to occur, but the prospect of this has huge implications, as the search for life elsewhere has been one of the longest quests in human history. If this ultimately comes to fruition, then This is going to be a big moment and we don’t take it lightly.”
The excited scientist also mentioned that he couldn't sleep for a week after making the discovery.
On the NASA website, space enthusiasts and those intrigued by Professor Madhusudhan's discoveries can take a virtual tour of the James Webb Space Telescope and scroll through a list of images of discoveries made by smart devices.
The planet is estimated to be about two and a half times the size of Earth.
Toward the end of the interview, Swarbrick told the professor “you're going to be the most famous man in the world soon,” to which he replied: “I just want to find the truth and that's it.”
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