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An international research team led by Harvard scientists has announced the first-ever detection of an atmosphere on an Earth-like rocky exoplanet, LHS 1140 b, orbiting within its star’s habitable zone, only 48 light-years away.
The researchers behind the historic discovery, which they are calling “a major milestone in the search for life on other planets,” said the detection of an atmosphere on an Earth-like rocky exoplanet offers the strongest evidence to date that worlds with similar compositions and temperatures to Earth that are also capable of supporting life could exist beyond our solar system.
In a statement announcing the detection of an atmosphere around a habitable-zone rocky exoplanet, the discovery was motivated by theoretical predictions suggesting that LHS 1140 b may contain an atmosphere. The planet was even more tantalizing because its orbit around its host red dwarf star allows for liquid water on its surface, a key ingredient for life as we know it.
Although thousands of exoplanets have been confirmed since 1995, including habitable-zone rocky worlds similar in size and composition to Earth, the team notes that determining whether any of these potential Earth analogs maintain an atmosphere. Like water, an atmosphere is considered a likely necessity for life to emerge.
“An atmosphere is essential for a planet to support life as we know it,” explained Collin Cherubim, the lead author of a study detailing the findings, who recently earned his Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard University.
Robin Wordsworth, the Gordon McKay Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering and Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard, said that as recently as twenty years ago, astronomers still didn’t know if other, terrestrial-type planets “even existed.” However, he explained, they quickly found that this type of planet was common, including some orbiting within their star’s habitable zone.
“The next question was whether any of them had managed to keep an atmosphere,” the professor added.
Before performing any direct observations, the team used computer models to predict what they might find on LHS 1140 b. As noted, those models predicted an upper atmosphere rich in helium. The models also suggested that the atmospheric helium was slowly escaping into space.
To test the model’s predictions, Cherubim and colleagues gained access to the Warm Infrared Echelle (WINERED) Spectrograph on the Magellan Observatory in Chile. The team noted that this powerful telescope allowed them to observe an alignment of LHS 1140 b and another planet transiting its star “on the same night.”
When analyzing the data, the team found that one of the planets appeared to lack any measurable atmosphere. However, as their models had predicted, helium was actively escaping from LHS 1140 b. The finding confirmed that this rocky exoplanet orbiting within its star’s habitable zone was actively maintaining an atmosphere.
David Charbonneau, the head of the Harvard Department of Astronomy and an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and Cherubim’s co-advisor with Wordsworth, was initially skeptical because the entire concept was based on a mathematical prediction of a phenomenon astronomers had never witnessed directly. However, Professor Charbonneau ended up praising the student’s determination and follow-through, which led to the historic detection.
“Collin analyzed the planets we knew about and predicted that this one would have a helium atmosphere,” Charbonneau said. “Then he organized telescope time, got the data, and the detection was statistically rock solid.”
When discussing the implications of the findings, Cherubim noted that “this is the first time anyone has found an atmosphere on a rocky planet in the habitable zone of another star.” Professor Wordsworth agreed, once again noting that until now, planets in these categories with atmospheres had been purely theoretical.
“Now we know at least one has,” the professor said.
The data also suggest that LHS 1140 b’s atmosphere has likely survived for more than three billion years, roughly three-quarters of Earth’s existence. This durability makes LHS 1140 b an excellent candidate for future exoplanet atmosphere studies.
More broadly, the team said that using ground-based observatories to search for escaping gases, such as the helium detected leaving LHS 1140 b, “may become an important tool for studying atmospheres on rocky exoplanets.” They also note the potential value of atmospheric detection for astrobiologists searching for signs of life in the cosmos.
As for Cherubim, he plans on following up his historic discovery with a more detailed analysis of the planet’s atmospheric composition. He also said he would like to investigate the possible presence of surface oceans or other planetary characteristics typically associated with habitability and life. The entire team also said they would like to use Cherubim’s model to search for similar Earth-like, habitable-zone rocky exoplanets.
“This has been a model validation, and hopefully it’s just the first of many more observations to come,” Cherubim said.
The study, “Helium escaping from the atmosphere of a nearby rocky exoplanet orbiting in a habitable zone,” was published in Science.
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.
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An innovative new drone dubbed the “Phantom Twist” can seemingly disappear from view, in a major new robotics advancement offering a close-to-invisible aerial platform.
Its name describes the drone’s rapid spinning motion, which rotates 25 times per second—too fast for the human eye to resolve—thereby acting as a sort of cloak shielding it from visible detection.
The Northwestern University engineering team behind the Phantom Twist revealed their drone during a recent talk at the Sydney, Australia, Robotics: Science and Systems 2026 conference on July 16.
“Most efforts to hide drones focus on making them look like their surroundings,” said Northwestern’s Michael Rubenstein, who led the work. “Instead, we asked whether we could design the drone itself around the way humans perceive motion. This idea of low visibility through persistent motion is something few people have explored.”
Hiding drones is not a new idea. Other engineers have attempted a variety of techniques, including camouflage, transparent materials, and light-bending to obscure the presence of drones and robots. However, all of those focused on the material the drone’s exterior was constructed from, allowing it to blend into the background. The Northwestern team’s innovation was in how the object moves.
To our eyes, fan blades disappear because they are moving so fast that our eyes cannot track them. The “motion blur” created at these speeds allows the Phantom Twist to almost disappear, leaving only a faint apparition perceptible to the eye.
While several military applications are immediately obvious, the team instead says their work could be useful in developing noninvasive wildlife and environmental monitoring. Loud drones can scare wildlife, disrupting them as they scatter, but by blending in, the Phantom Twist could capture a much more accurate picture of natural behaviors.
Their perception-based design eschews the traditional quadcopter design for a single propeller, with a body that spins in the opposite direction, creating the optical illusion that the drone essentially disappears.
“For a typical quadrotor drone, the propellers are spinning, but the robot is stationary,” Rubenstein said. “So, you still see its body. For our drone, the whole thing is rotating, so there are no stationary parts.”
Using AI and optimization algorithms, the Northwestern team began by generating 20,000 different arrangements of a drone’s propeller, motor, circuit board, and other necessary components. Eventually, the algorithm landed on the most promising configurations, after which the researchers simulated and superimposed them onto real-world backgrounds.
Another computer model mimicked human perception, allowing the engineers to assign a perception score for how visible each design would be to human eyes. An algorithm then optimized those designs by moving components to minimize the visibility score even further.
“The design process was fully automated,” Rubenstein said. “Then, when we were confident that a drone met all our criteria, we built it.”
The key feature of this design is that the individual components are at such varying heights and angles that they do not overlap as it spins, maximizing the motion-blur effect and creating the appearance of a faint cloud rather than a solid object.
“The human eye takes time to accumulate signals, roughly analogous to the exposure time of a camera,” said Alexander, an expert in computer vision. “When an object spins quickly, we perceive it as blurring out and losing distinct features. Because this new drone is almost entirely transparent, its few opaque components are visually averaged with the background for an overall appearance of a slight haze.”
Currently impeding the drone from being even more imperceptible to the eye are the wires and support rods that remain visible, as well as the engine noise it produces, which is readily discernible. Going forward, the team plans to continue improving Phantom Twist in future iterations to incorporate more transparent materials and reduce the noise it produces.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.
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