Many exoplanets may have oceans beneath their icy shells, like the Jupiter moon Europa, seen here by NASA’s Galileo
© NASA/JPL-Caltech
A new analysis of exoplanets suggests there’s a much greater chance of these worlds hosting liquid water, an essential ingredient for life on Earth. The universe could be filled with more habitable planets than scientists believed, with a greater chance of these worlds possessing environments in which alien life could develop, even if they have icy outer shells. “We know that the presence of liquid water is essential for life. Our work shows that this water can be found in places we had not considered,” Rutgers University scientist Lujendra Ojha said. “This significantly increases the chances of finding environments where life could develop.”