In a potential landmark discovery, scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have obtained what they call the strongest signs yet of possible life beyond our solar system, detecting in an exoplanet’s atmosphere the chemical fingerprints of gases that on Earth are produced only by biological processes.

Scientists have detected unique chemical patterns similar to those produced by the Earth's algae and seaweed — raising the possibility of the presence of a warm ocean, perhaps teeming with life, on a planet 7 trillion miles away.