Slightly larger than Earth, the exoplanet LHS 3844b circles a small red dwarf star called LHS 3884, about 48.5 light-years away. Unlike Earth, it does not experience sunrise or sunset. The planet is tidally locked, so one hemisphere always faces its star while the other remains in permanent darkness. This creates an extreme split: one side is relentlessly heated, while the other plunges toward temperatures where molecular motion nearly stops, a condition known as absolute zero (zero Kelvin).

At first glance, such a world seems completely inhospitable. Yet scientists are beginning to question that assumption.

Daisuke Noto, a postdoctoral researcher in Hugo Ulloa’s Penn GEFLOW Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, has been investigating whether these stark conditions truly rule out life. “Just looking at the extreme temperatures on the day and night sides like 1,000-2,000 Kelvin on the day side and absolute zero on the night side might lead one to conclude these exoplanets are too harsh for life. But,” says Noto, “life might find a way.”