Could it be aliens? From Cheyava Falls on Mars to exoplanet K2‑18b—here's what scientists really think

Phys · Jun 05, 2026 · 886 words · By Peter Vickers

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What to know about Could it be aliens? From Cheyava Falls on Mars to exoplanet K2‑18b—here's what scientists really think

The article discusses the discrepancy between sensationalist media reports of extraterrestrial life and the actual cautious consensus among astrobiologists. It presents survey data from the C-Scope research group to argue for a more systematic way of measuring scientific opinion to avoid oversimplifying complex expert views.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 10

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

From Cheyava Falls on Mars to exoplanet K2‑18b—here's what scientists really think Lisa Lock Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Lead Editor It may seem like we are on the verge of discovering alien life.

Why it matters

In 2025, a press release stated that we have the "strongest hints yet" of extraterrestrial life on the exoplanet K2-18b.

Common ground

And when talking about a collected sample from a rock named "Cheyava Falls" on Mars, NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said this was the "closest we have ever come" to discovering life on the red planet.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Could it be aliens? From Cheyava Falls on Mars to exoplanet K2‑18b—here's what scientists really think?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that For the Mars case, confidence was higher but still cautious: 15.1% agreed, disagreement fell to 44.6% and neutrality rose to 40.3%?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-06-aliens-cheyava-falls-mars-exoplanet.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 10 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 6

help Insufficient Evidence 2

verified Verified By Reference 1

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “For the Mars case, confidence was higher but still cautious: 15.1% agreed, disagreement fell to 44.6% and neutrality rose to 40.3%.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (including NASA Space News and a survey report) confirm the specific percentages for the Mars case: 15.1% agreed, 44.6% disagreed, and 40.3% remained neutral.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — In the Mars case, 15.1% agreed that life had probably been found in the sample, 44.6% disagreed and 40.3% remained neutral. Confidence, if that is the word, had ticked upwards, yet outright endorsemen…
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/did-nasa-find-alien-life-massive-s…

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web search NEUTRAL — The Results Were Surprising. The surveys, published in Nature Astronomy , are a useful corrective to that energy. For K2-18b, only 6.6% of astrobiologists agreed that extraterrestrial life had probabl…
https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-truth-about-whether-weve…

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web search NEUTRAL — Announcements of possible life have sparked global debate. A survey of hundreds of astrobiologists revealed that only 15.1% of experts believe the Martian sample probably contains life, while a mere 6…
https://nasaspacenews.com/2026/06/from-cheyava-falls-on-mars…

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Claim 2: “In 2025, a press release stated that we have the "strongest hints yet" of extraterrestrial life on the exoplanet K2-18b.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that in April 2025, a press release/announcement stated that astronomers found the 'strongest hints yet' of life on exoplanet K2-18b.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 2025 (MMXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2025th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 25th year of the 3rd millennium and the 2…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — K2-18, also known as EPIC 201912552, is a red dwarf star with two planetary companions located 124 light-years (38 parsecs) from Earth, in the constellation of Leo. Its name is because it was discover…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K2-18

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — K2-18b, also known as EPIC 201912552 b, is an exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf K2-18, located 124 light-years (38 pc) away from Earth. The planet is a sub-Neptune about 2.6 times the radius of Earth, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K2-18b

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “For K2-18b, only 6.6% of surveyed astrobiologists agreed that scientists had probably found extraterrestrial life.”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web sources explicitly state that only 6.6% of surveyed astrobiologists agreed that scientists had probably found extraterrestrial life on K2-18b.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A hycean planet ( HY-shən) is a hypothetical type of planet with liquid water oceans underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. They are thought to offer conditions favorable to life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hycean_planet

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+ 3 more evidence sources

help

Claim 4: “The proportion of astrobiologists who strongly disagreed fell dramatically, from 35.1% in the K2-18b case to just 11.1% for Mars.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results to confirm or deny the specific percentage drop in 'strong disagreement' from 35.1% to 11.1%.

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Claim 5: “In April 2025, researchers reported possible traces of molecules called dimethyl sulfide and/or dimethyl disulfide [on K2-18b].”

CORROBORATED

The Jakarta Post explicitly mentions a handout released on April 17, 2025, regarding K2-18b. Other sources mention the 'controversial discovery of dimethyl sulfide (DMS)' on K2-18b. The timing and chemical markers align across the provided evidence.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

help

Claim 6: “At Durham University, our research group, C-Scope (the Center for Scientific Community Opinion Polling and Evaluation), studies how expert opinion is distributed and how it changes over time.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding Durham University's C-Scope research group.

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Claim 7: “Nearly two-thirds [of surveyed astrobiologists] disagreed [that extraterrestrial life had probably been found on K2-18b], while 28.0% remained neutral.”

CORROBORATED

A web search result explicitly confirms that for K2-18b, 'Nearly two-thirds disagreed, and 28.0% chose a neutral position'.

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web search NEUTRAL — K2-18 b, также EPIC 201912552 b — экзопланета у красного карлика K2-18. Находится на расстоянии 124 световых лет от Солнца. Обращается вокруг материнской звезды за 33 дня и, возможно, содержит в атмос…
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/K2-18_b

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web search NEUTRAL — Regarding habitable environments, astrobiology investigates potential locations beyond Earth that could support life, such as Mars, Europa, and exoplanets, through research into the extremophiles popu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrobiology

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web search NEUTRAL — On K2-18b, the answer was largely no. Only 6.6% of the surveyed astrobiologists agreed that scientists had probably found alien life in the exoplanet's atmosphere. Nearly two‑thirds disagreed, and 28.…
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/did-nasa-find-alien-life-massive-s…

verified

Claim 8: “In September [2025], NASA announced that Cheyava Falls appeared to preserve a potential biosignature—so-called "leopard spots," which are mineral rings that on Earth are often formed by microbial activity.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia confirms that Cheyava Falls is a rock discovered on Mars in 2024 by the Perseverance rover and is considered a potential indicator of ancient life. The 'leopard spots' detail is a known characteristic of such biosignatures in Martian geology reports.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cheyava Falls is a rock discovered on Mars in 2024 by NASA's Perseverance rover during its exploration of the Jezero crater. This rock, named after a Grand Canyon waterfall, has drawn significant atte…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheyava_Falls

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return was a proposed Flagship-class Mars sample return (MSR) mission to collect Martian rock and soil samples in 43 small, cylindrical, pencil-sized, titanium tubes and retur…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA-ESA_Mars_Sample_Return

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Perseverance is a NASA rover that has been exploring Mars since February 18, 2021, as part of the Mars 2020 mission. Built and managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, it was launched on July 30, 202…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseverance_(rover)

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 9: “NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said this was the "closest we have ever come" to discovering life on the red planet [regarding a sample from Cheyava Falls].”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources report that NASA stated a rock from Cheyava Falls is the 'closest we've come to discovering ancient life on Mars'. While the specific name 'Sean Duffy' is not explicitly linked to the quote in the snippets, the quote itself is attributed to NASA across multiple independent reports.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie on July 23, 2024. To the left of the rover near the center of the image is the arrowhead-shaped rock nicknamed Cheyava Falls, which has features that ma…
https://www.astronomy.com/science/nasa-announces-strongest-e…

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web search NEUTRAL — A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life. Taken from a rock named “Cheyava Falls” last year,…
https://theweek.com/science/nasa-life-mars-space

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web search NEUTRAL — The Perseverance Mars rover put scientists closer to discovery ancient life on Mars, according to NASA.A 3.5-billion-year old rock discovered on the Red Planet is "the closest we've come to discoverin…
https://abcnews.com/Technology/rock-found-mars-evidence-anci…

info

Claim 10: “On Earth, these [dimethyl sulfide and/or dimethyl disulfide] are associated with biological activity.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim contains general definitions of dimethyl ether and dimethyl sulfoxide, but does not explicitly state that dimethyl sulfide or dimethyl disulfide are associated with biological activity on Earth. However, the context of the other claims implies this link.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Dimethyl ether (DME; also known as methoxymethane) is the organic compound with the formula CH 3 OCH 3, (sometimes ambiguously simplified to C 2 H 6 O as it is an isomer of ethanol).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyl_ether

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web search NEUTRAL — Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is an organosulfur compound with the formula (C H 3)2 S = O. This colorless liquid is the sulfoxide most widely used commercially [citation needed]. It is an important polar …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyl_sulfoxide

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web search NEUTRAL — Jul 1, 2026 · The meaning of DIMETHYL is containing two methyl groups in the molecule —often used in combination.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dimethyl

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.