"Earth's Biosignatures Detected by LIFE Telescope: Implications for Alien Life Search"

The Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE) telescope, developed by ETH Zurich, has passed its first test by successfully detecting Earth's biosignatures, including CO2, water, ozone, and methane, from about 30 light years away. The telescope, which is still in the concept stage, aims to observe exoplanets in hopes of finding signs of life. Researchers used Earth's atmosphere as a test case and found that LIFE could detect relevant chemical compounds, with observation times ranging from a few days to up to 100 days depending on the target. The results suggest that LIFE could be the best-suited future mission for systematically searching for biosignatures on exoplanets.