Exploring a Planet Potentially Covered in a Water Ocean and Debates on Habitability

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This chapter delves into new findings on a planet with a deep water ocean, raising questions about extraterrestrial life. Scientists in Cambridge analyze the planet's atmosphere through starlight, uncovering chemical signatures, while debates over habitability emerge due to extreme conditions and varying perspectives from a Canadian team.

Ian Sample and science correspondent Hannah Devlin discuss some of the science stories that have made headlines this week, from a new theory challenging the existence of dark matter to an alarming study about the possible impact of microplastics on our health and a glimpse of a ‘waterworld with a boiling ocean’ deep in space. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod