Joshua Krissansen-Totton

Scientists have figured out how to search for life on other planets by looking for colored traces on the surface. These paints are left by living organisms. The HWO telescope will spot such color signatures even if the air shows no signs of life — for instance, when it’s ancient and doesn’t produce

Usually, life on distant planets is sought by telltale gases in the atmosphere. But their buildup isn’t only from life. A new approach gauges not the concentration but the rate gases stream from the surface — like figuring out if bread is baking not by the smell, but by the waft of heat from the ove