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Hints of Life Found On Saturn's Moon Titan
Calopteryx writes "New Scientist reports that in 2005, researchers predicted two potential signatures of life on Titan. Now, thanks to research done with the help of the Cassini spacecraft, both have been seen, although non-biological chemical reactions could also be behind the observations. NASA's writeup has further details: 'One key finding comes from a paper online now in the journal Icarus [abstract] that shows hydrogen molecules flowing down through Titan's atmosphere and disappearing at the surface. Another paper online now in the Journal of Geophysical Research maps hydrocarbons on the Titan surface and finds a lack of acetylene. This lack of acetylene is important because that chemical would likely be the best energy source for a methane-based life on Titan, said Chris McKay, an astrobiologist at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., who proposed a set of conditions necessary for this kind of methane-based life on Titan in 2005. One interpretation of the acetylene data is that the hydrocarbon is being consumed as food. But McKay said the flow of hydrogen is even more critical because all of their proposed mechanisms involved the consumption of hydrogen.'"
two potential signatures of life on Titan
Nice.... I still have a chance.
I hope the Silver Surfer will keep him from blowing up Earth!
Oh, it's been done: Titan A.E.
Slow day here, too...
--Stak
Holy happy hippy crap!
NASA routinely crashes its space probes after their extended missions to prevent any sort of contamination to possible life forms indigenous to the celestial bodies in the area.
I wonder if the Huygens probe's plunge to the surface may have introduced contaminants to Titan's "biosphere".
That would kind of suck. And now we'll never know, since future visits could very well detect readings caused/contaminated by Huygens.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, START
When I was in Jr. High, my science class had an assignment where we had to make-up a life form, based on the planet chosen's conditions and mine was Saturn. Of course my design was completely ridiculous, but the idea was pretty much close to what they're saying about Hydrogen consumption. This is pretty cool...I *heart* Saturn. "Pro'lly 'cuz it gots money with all them rings it has!" lol =P
Those Titanians are constantly drunk. That's probably very smart as long as they don't drive.
You can't handle the truth.
...or possibly not.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
The worst thing that could possibly happen for any form of life anywhere would be its discovery by us.
...The Sirens of Titan.
What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_Mare_Explorer (hopefully not postponed to be part of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_Saturn_System_Mission )
Titan, and Saturn system generally, is a really big thing for our distant future. People like to imagine the colonisation of Jupiter system, but the radiation belts there make it not exactly feasible; only Callisto out of 4 big moons might be fine. Saturn doesn't have this problem; is still decently close and with huge system of moons.
Discovery of life on Titan might of course complicate things...OTOH, with it (if any) being probably so vastly different, there's little risk of crosscontamination in either direction.
One that hath name thou can not otter
Come on. This is so weak and wrong. Now if you excuse me I'm going to go make myself a hydrogen and acetylene sandwich.
Attempt no landings there, either.
At the bottom of the
All these worlds are yours, except Titan. Attempt no landings there.
Pain is God trying to be funny. That's how out of touch It is. -- Jeff Lint
I, for one welco...ah, screw it.
Titan, however, has the problem of being damned cold. I don't think it's a given that radiation is harder to deal with than that amount of greenhouse engineering.
Adult Role Playing Forum
That is its only major problem though (well, that and the atmosphere being highly toxic to humans - essentially with the addition of...Zyklon B). Other than that it offers protection, stability of conditions, "zero pressure difference" (ok, you would probably want to maintain a slight overpressure inside the base, due to toxicity - together with the cold outside that might make any leaks largely self-closing); greatly simplifying things compared to many other places, so you can concentrate easily on thermal isolation.
We already have bases in the Antarctic, and with tech progress...
BTW, you probably don't want to warm whole moon - unless you intend to have a waterworld.
One that hath name thou can not otter
Nothing down there but Chrono and the blue birds.
"I'm not a quack, I'm a mad scientist! There's a difference." - Dr. Cockroach
...signs of zombies were discovered on Planet Earth when there was a distinct absence of intelligence in recent observation. This would indicate the presence of brain-eating zombies, as all their feeding mechanisms drain intelligence from the local biosphere.
(sorry, couldn't help it.)
How does it taste?
I seem to remember a movie, also, something about a computer run amok and life on one of the moons near Saturn... ...or was it Jupiter?
The Kai's Semi-Updated Website Thingy
that and the atmosphere being highly toxic to humans - essentially with the addition of...Zyklon B
Sweet, when can we send all the kikes there?
Now McKay can get the 2nd gate from Area 51 placed on there. Well wait, that won't work, Stargates target via gravity wells and Titan isn't large enough to target from the gate system, too much noise.
Well maybe he could contact the Asgar... oh wait.
Knowing our luck, we're going to just crash some crap into Titan, either killing off whatever lives there or starting a war with it.
You know what you doing.
Move 'zig'.
For great justice.
Thats what she said!
That's just a pool that has life painted on the bottom.
Aliens Of Cow Fart Land
-- It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. -- Aristotle
Titan is a young celestial body - with its own dense atmosphere and the only body until now in the solar system that has surface liquids apart from us.
Sure it can be hypothesized that since Titan is young - it probably is taking a course that Earth took millions of years ago. With the distance from Sun rendering it cold and the fact that it orbits Saturn being the primary differences.
Of course finding Life would be an enormous discovery. But if we start with what we already know - that Organic reactions are taking place on Titan's surface, and that it is a giant Organic Soup -- It gives us a huge interesting laboratory to study and experiment!
We can even direct Titan's course of life by controlled introduction of earth's anaerobic life on its surface -- since we already know a hypothesis on how our own Earth's atmosphere has evolved into the current air composition -- we can *test* and use those theories to change Titan's atmosphere, in turn not only validating our theories, but may be making Titan inhabitable like Earth!
Exciting to say the least! If only we humans can, just for a second -- stop bickering amongst ourselves and look outwards to this possibility!!
Well, there's a lack of McDonald's hamburgers on this world too, so perhaps there is human life down there after all, consuming all the hamburgers.
While the hypothesis is cute, it doesn't "prove" anything.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
No acetylene means somebody is welding down there.
On news that NASA has discovered methane-based life on Titan the Department of Homeland Security ... no doubt doing their homework ... and connecting the dots ... has just issues the first warning of Earth Invasion ... CODE PURPLE.
DHS crack scientists have been intercepting .... transmissions, i.e. SIGINT ... Singnals Intelligence ... from Titan!
The Titans have been excited by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by BP PLC.
Intercepts, translated, indicate that the methane breathing Titans are building fleets of craft to descent upon Earth to suck the oil from the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama has already issued a statement to the Titans throught the radar telescope Aricebo saying "SUCK OFF!"
Linguists at the National Academies are puzzled by Obamas words.
Specilists are reviewing episodes of the '70s sit-coms, Diff'nt Strokes to assertain a true meaning to Obama's statements.
Isn't that the dude who discovered fossils of Martians in some space rock 15 years ago? Oh wait - no, that was his brother. *facepalm*
If life independently exists on Titan - in our virtual backyard - then life is probably far more common in the universe than we had previously thought.