If we could contact aliens, what would happen to Earth?

Despite the discovery of potential biological traces of alien life, experts warn that humans could be in danger if they make contact with extraterrestrial beings.

After centuries of proving aliens exist, scientists recently announced the discovery of potential biological signs on the distant planet K2-18b, about 120 light years from Earth.

Planet K2-18b lies in the "habitable zone" around its host star in the constellation Leo - where conditions could be suitable for maintaining liquid water, a prerequisite for life.

However, what surprised scientists was that the planet's atmosphere contained a large amount of compounds that can only be produced by living organisms, in particular dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS). On Earth, these substances are produced only by living organisms, mainly marine plankton.

"This discovery is the clearest evidence yet that life could exist outside the Solar System," said Dr Nikku Madhusudhan, an astrophysicist at the University of Cambridge and lead author of the study.

The planet K2-18b is twice the size of Earth and eight times more massive. It is classified as a "hycean world" (a planet with oceans and a hydrogen-rich atmosphere). Since its discovery in 2015, K2-18b has quickly attracted the attention of the scientific community.

By 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) had detected additional carbon dioxide, methane, and a lack of ammonia — factors that further supported the hypothesis of a water ocean beneath the atmosphere of planet K2-18b.

However, the research team is cautious about finding the above signs because they only reached the "three sigma" threshold (equivalent to 99.7% accuracy), not enough to be considered an official scientific discovery (need to reach the "five sigma" threshold).

While the search for extraterrestrial life has made great progress, some experts warn that trying to contact extraterrestrial civilizations, if they exist, could pose great danger.

According to physicist Mark Buchanan, blindly sending signals out into space without knowing who we are talking to is an extremely dangerous idea. If the extraterrestrial civilization is more powerful and unfriendly to us, humanity could face the tragedy of extinction.

Physicist Mark Buchanan cites that human history has proven that when two civilizations meet, the outcome is usually the extinction or oppression of the weaker civilization. Some scientists share the same view as physicist Buchanan and believe that humans should be cautious when contacting aliens to avoid bad things. The photo in the article is for illustration purposes only.

Readers are invited to watch the video : The US announced that it has seen more than 120 UFOs in the past 2 decades. Source: VTV24.

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