With these error-bars and the whole concept of such observation that may well be a primoridal soup for silicon based life or a planet-scale sand storm or Saturn-like silicon-rich rings face-on. You should keep in mind that the planet is not resolved at all, it is just changes of the star spectrum when a tiny (in comparison with the star) planet passes in front of it.
Jeez, that signal must have been absolutely infinitesimal. How do you even notice something like that? Guess I should read the article
My thought was that the quartz crystal might provide a solid surface for catalysing interesting chemical reactions that might lead to life.