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Hints of Life on Exoplanet K2-18b Recede Even Further

New observations fail to confirm signs of life in the atmosphere of the distant planet K2-18b. They also raise questions about what it will take to detect biology light-years away.

© N. Madhusudhan/University of Cambridge, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

An artist’s impression of the exoplanet K2-18b. A new study confirms that it is a water-rich world but raises doubts about earlier suggestions that it harbors life.
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A 37,000-Year Chronicle of What Once Ailed Us

In a new genetic study, scientists have charted the rise of 214 human diseases across ancient Europe and Asia.

© CNRI/Science Source

Yersinia pestis, the microbe that causes plague. DNA in human fossils has revealed a surge in the disease about 5,000 years ago.
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