Europa's Acid Ice Fields

tr0llb4rt0 writes "The New Scientist reports on recent observations that suggest the ice on Jupiter's moon Europa may be highly acid with a pH of near zero, and have a surface layer of hydrogen peroxide. Two theories have been put forward. One says that the acid has been formed at the surface layer from oceanic salts reacting with the intense radiation from Jupiter, the other that sulphuric acid is coming directly from the ocean, with the water reacting with sulphur produced from undersea volcanos. Wilst reducing the chances of life on Europa, it is not ruling it out completely, as there are terrestrial extremophile bacteria which thrive in highly acid environments."

Comments

Alternative life forms

[Mick Ohrberg]

Wilst reducing the chances of life on Europa, it is not ruling it out completely, as there are terrestrial extremophile bacteria which thrive in highly acid environments.

Key word being terrestrial. What about life forms based on silicon and sulphur (as opposed to carbon and oxygen). The theories are there, and I think we have merely begun to scratch the surface of what different kinds of 'life' may be out there.

Re:Alternative life forms

[Sj0]

Speaking of which, I love how whenever you see silicon based organisms in literature, they're always talking rocks. Just imagine if some silicon based intelligence was thinking about the possibility of carbon-based life forms! "We think they'll turn out to be black or clear, and either extremely hard like diamond, or flammable, like coal!"

H2O2 indicates lots of OXYGEN!

[DR SoB]

If there is vast quantities of H2O2 (Hydrogen peroxide), wouldn't that indicate the presense of life is more likely? It would indicate high levels of oxygen, since, H2O2 is obviously oxygen risk. Many farmers on earth use H2O2 to increase the concentration of oxygen in the water supply, so wouldn't that work on Jupiter as well?? Any chemists out there know the answer?

Re:H2O2 indicates lots of OXYGEN!

[numbski]

Erm...just because an element is available doesn't mean it's usable.

I mean, O3 may be available, but that doesn't mean you can breathe it. :\

It would seem that life as we know it would be indicated more by the presence of CO2, oxygen in of itself.

Re:H2O2 indicates lots of OXYGEN!

[DR SoB]

Wrong. H2O2 is USABLE for providing Oxygen to plants. This is a proven fact. o3 may not be breathable to us, but it's presence means that we could extract the Oxygen from it (EASILY because o3 is unstable). That's why water on mars is so important, if it's there, we can EXTRACT the oxygen and breath it. If it's there, it's usable!

Rocket Fuel?

[Short Circuit]

Isn't hydrogen peroxide a rocket fuel?

*hm....*

Why

[Have Blue]

Why do we decide the probability of life on Europa based on life's characteristics on Earth? It's a completely different environment that has never had any contact with Earth and almost certainly has never had conditions similar to conditions at any time in the history of life on Earth. Our knowledge of biology may not even apply to anything we discover out there.

Re:Why

[kirkjobsluder]

Probably because (as Asimov pointed out in a great collection of essays titled "The Tragedy of the Moon") what we know about chemistry suggests that life favors a sweet-spot of conditions. These conditions include an abundant diversity of chemicals, a reasonable temperature range, and a reasonable range of temperatures. At this sweet-spot the creation of complex molecules is probable. Outside of this sweet-spot increasingly improbable.

Re:What is this basic of which you speak????

[DR SoB]

Same thing, different text book. It is called Alkaline, or "basic"..

Re:Mental Note...

[geoffspear]

Yeah, but imagine how big the engines on this spaceship will need to be to launch a ship made of something as dense as gold or platinum. Not to mention the cost of the raw materials to build the thing. And, well, the fact that gold, at least, isn't exactly known for its strength.