18 April 2025 - K2-18 b

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K2-18 b: My Prediction

"The strongest sign yet of extraterrestrial life" is like the strongest sign yet that some newly-charted asteroid will strike the earth. Why, the chance might be as high as a few percent! Oh, actually it's different because the place is light years away. It will take a long time to learn enough to set the chance back to negligible.

clue:

Really, a marginal detection on a planet whose chemistry is so unfamiliar that we don't know what to expect in the first place? It's in the news only for the headline.

take oh take this clue away

the Daily Whale || copyright 2025 Jay J.P. Scott <jay@satirist.org>