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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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New Global Atlas Highlights Surprising Hot Spots of Fungal Biodiversity

A new global atlas of underground fungi suggests that some surprising biodiversity hot spots lie hidden beneath our feet.

© Tomas Munita for The New York Times

Russula, a species of fungus, growing in the forest near Chile’s Alerce Costero National Park during a 2022 expedition surveying fungi by the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks.
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