Traces of life Scientists look beyond solar system

Washington: Searching for traces of life on Mars, like Nasa is doing, is one thing. But scientists are also looking further afield. Could it be found beyond our solar system? A study published on Thursday in the prestigious journal Science reveals the discovery of a new exoplanet that could be instrumental in the hunt.

Researchers will try to determine whether there is an atmosphere on the "super-Earth" and traces of life around a star other than our Sun. "The end of the road is finding biomarkers or biosignatures in the atmospheres of exoplanets, which is signs of life on habitable Earth-like planets," said Jose Caballero, an astronomer at Spain’s Centro de Astrobiologia and one of the co-authors of the study.