Sri Lanka, April 17 -- Scientists are cautiously optimistic about new findings that could suggest life exists on a planet orbiting a distant star.

A team at Cambridge University, analysing the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b, has detected molecules that, on Earth, are exclusively produced by living microorganisms.

This is the second time that chemicals linked to life have been found in this planet's atmosphere by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.

However, both the research team and other astronomers emphasise that further data is crucial to confirm these initial results.

Professor Nikku Madhusudhan, the lead researcher at Cambridge University's Institute of Astronomy, has expressed his hope to secure definitive proof in the near f...