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Europa May "Nurture" Life

Posted by timothy on from the lunar-womb dept.

Bullschmidt writes: "This article suggests that Europa may not only have the water to support life, but also heat, generated from the intense tides of the Jovian moon, to not only support, but possibly nurture, life. The article also suggests that the same forces that heat the water may be also responsible for melting the icy crust of Europa, causing its characteristic cracked surface."

1 of 23 comments (clear)

  1. Why did CNN post that? by CheshireCatCO · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm trying to figure out why CNN ran that article. I don't mean to be cranky, but there was no news there. Everything has been reported before (Yes, there is almost certainly water under Europa's ice. Every time Galileo has made a pass over Europa the evidence gets stronger for that, but Galileo hasn't made any passes in the past month or two.)
    Worse, the research was really poor. It isn't hard to get the basic facts straight. I mean, Galileo went into orbit in 1995, not 1997 (hence the 1996 reference they gave which mentioned Galileo already in orbit by then). The book was 2010 (also made into a movie), not the dreadful 3001.
    As for melting at the surface... not likely. Most researchers seem to think that the melting is occuring farther down, and some of it may rise up to the surface occasionally. (Others think its just warm ice convecting, for the most part.) Admittedly, I'm probably biased by my officemate's research on this topic, but still. They could at least give the alternate view.
    They also don't note that Europa might or might not have two of the three ingredients thought necessary for life: readily availible biogenic elements and a source or energy suitable for life (tidal heat doesn't really serve that end directly). All it has is water. Water is an important start, but it isn't all and that bears keeping in mind.

    I'm really confused and miffed by this article. It really shouldn't have been published, especially not as news. (This is not meant as an attack on the /.er who relayed this news story, but CNN.com, who should have known better.) I'm thinking it was a really slow news day.