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Titan Occupies A Solar System Sweet Spot
SocietyoftheFist writes "From an article on the BBC website, scientists have determined that Titan occupies a 'sweet spot' much like Earth. Venus is the same size as Earth but too hot so water boiled off long ago ending most geologic processes. Mars is too small to generate enough heat to keep water from freezing so it too slowed down geologically. Titan is much like the Earth with winds, rains and tectonic forces but instead of water it has an abundance of methane. Methane is liquid at the temperatures found in Titan's atmosphere and replaces water in the equation."
What I don't get is how is this considered the sweet spot?
Its not oxygen, its not water, its not livable, its not breathable, and I'm sure as hell that the temperature's not close to tolerable.
A fundamental issue, as I understamd it, is the speed of chemical reactions. Roughly speaking, chemical process speeds are related exponentially to temperature. Generally speaking, the temperatures on Titan are far to low to permit life processes anything like the sort we see on Earth. That isn't a definite "no", but any life forms would have to be radically different from anything on Earth.
But it still remains very interesting to study. All these problems you propose are valid, but the chemistry at those places could still be very complex, and the thing with life is, once it has started its' complexity will rise with the next generations.
Our experience life is, let's face it, laughable. We only have one genesis to work with. The premise of liquid water is solely based on Earth observations. I don't know about you, but at least I don't know about any holiday resort on Earth next to a liquid methane lake. there just aren't any.
If I hear about an energy source, complex carbon-based chemicals and a liquid to mix them, then, with an open mind, I think some emerging intelligence may occur after billions of years. Even if it is a freak accident, if you believe a complex system can exist for even a few hundred millions of years without one freak accident, then you're obviously not an engineer. Maybe it will not be life as we know it, but damnit Jim, it will be alive!
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
Has anyone considered that maybe Earth is just the most Titan-like place in the Solar System other than Titan?
not all life has to be carbon-based, mostly water, and oxygen-breathing.
That is true, but you also have to take into account the fact that solid water (ice) is less dense then liquid water. We take it for granted, but think about how it affects our planet. The bottom of the ocean is not solid like the bottom of a methane ocean. They are liquid and at a controlled temperature (4 degrees celcius). How much of a role does this little oddity of water play into our planet's evolution?
The previous comment is purposely vague and generalized, but all of the facts are completely true.
Folks, Vonnegut is "Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.", the referenced work is "The Sirens of Titan", and the "ice-nine" reference is from another book: "Cat's Cradle".
In "The Sirens of Titan" (been years since I read it, so I'll try my best), one of Vonnegut's earliest works, much is made of the notion that Titan enjoyed conditions similar to Earth's as the article states, and so some of the action takes place on Titan, which is predicted to be where the book's protagonist, Rumford, is going to die. If I'm not hallucinating, quite a bit takes place on Mars, as well, involving a massive militray operation and some of the most insanely infectious rhyming ditties ever written. And I remember something about a wild party with a piano pushed into a swimming pool, beautiful creatures called harmoniums, flying saucers, chrono-synclastic infundibulum, and the repeated theme-invoking line "Somebody up there must like you!" Vonnegut students will recognise many of the elements of his life's work born in this novel.
Sheesh, I miss that book, now. I'm going to have to dig it up again.