Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Solar System Is Awash In Water

Posted by Soulskill on from the water-cooler-discussion dept.

An anonymous reader writes: NASA has published an article detailing the vast amount of water found on other worlds in our solar system. "There are several worlds thought to possess liquid water beneath their surfaces, and many more that have water in the form of ice or vapor. Water is found in primitive bodies like comets and asteroids, and dwarf planets like Ceres. The atmospheres and interiors of the four giant planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — are thought to contain enormous quantities of the wet stuff, and their moons and rings have substantial water ice. Perhaps the most surprising water worlds are the five icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn that show strong evidence of oceans beneath their surfaces: Ganymede, Europa and Callisto at Jupiter, and Enceladus and Titan at Saturn." They've released an infographic to accompany the article. It's also bolstered by new research from the Niels Bohr Institute, which confirmed that glaciers on Mars do contain a large quantity of water ice. These glaciers are separate from the ice caps, existing in belts closer to the planet's equator. This ice has a total volume of roughly 150 billion cubic meters — enough to cover the entirety of Mars' surface with one meter of ice (abstract).

72 comments

  1. Fusion here we come! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    Fusion mothafuckas!

    1. Re:Fusion here we come! by ralphsiegler · · Score: 3, Informative

      Offtopic? The ratio of deuterium to protium from water in comets originating in the Oort cloud is 3.4 times that of Earth's water

    2. Re:Fusion here we come! by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

      To the Oort we go!

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    3. Re:Fusion here we come! by cjameshuff · · Score: 1

      And a lot more than 3.4 times as difficult to reach. There's no shortage of deuterium on Earth, and no reason to go out there to get it.

      Of course, this is good news should we ever need to put a fusion power plant on Mars, but there's many other much more immediate uses for the water, like virtually any sort of industrial activity.

    4. Re:Fusion here we come! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Deuterium is not the bottleneck in fusion, as there is lots of that around, even in other places with hydrogen as it doesn't require the oxygen bit. In the nearer term, the limiting reagent is tritium, which in the longer run will be replaced by lithium with a breeding program or possibly He3.

    5. Re:Fusion here we come! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You ort to consider Mars first as heavy water is lost to space at a slower rate than light water therefore any world that has lost a lot of atmosphere and moisture over time will have higher ratios of heavy water.

    6. Re:Fusion here we come! by ralphsiegler · · Score: 1

      Depends, what if we achieve D-He3 or muon catalyzed D-D fusion?

  2. Mystery Solved by wubti · · Score: 2

    We found out where all of California's water has gone

    --
    You are unique, just like everyone else.
    1. Re:Mystery Solved by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And São Paulo's water too!

    2. Re:Mystery Solved by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Damnit, I should have read the comments before posting about the aqueduct.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    3. Re:Mystery Solved by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      We found out where all of California's water has gone

      California has plenty of water - they're not a landlocked state. They've got access to the largest ocean in the world for water.

      Of course, the problem is it isn't USABLE for a lot of things.

      The earth's surface is 2/3rds water. Unfortunately, freshwater makes up under 1% of that.

    4. Re:Mystery Solved by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      We've known for a long time where most of California's water goes: Big Farming.

      However, California's politicians wouldn't dare to address that issue. California's farmers are millionaires, and very generous political campaign donors.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    5. Re:Mystery Solved by xevioso · · Score: 1

      Actually, as the farmers like to say, California's biggest statewide crop is grass. Namely, people's lawns. When you have people in Rancho Santa Fe using upwards of 350 gallons of water per person, per day for lawns, it's hard to get mad at farmers growing kale and artichokes.

    6. Re:Mystery Solved by GNious · · Score: 1

      California doesn't have a drought; if they did, they'd have done something about the stupid laws and excessive waste of water.

    7. Re:Mystery Solved by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is still an 80/20 split with farmers using the vast majority.

    8. Re:Mystery Solved by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      The governor’s order focused primarily on urban water use, even though California’s $45 billion agricultural industry accounts for the bulk of the state’s water consumption: roughly 80%

      Source: http://www.economist.com/news/...

      it's hard to get mad at farmers growing kale and artichokes.

      No, its very easy to get mad. The government is clamping down on people who use 20% of the water . . . while leaving the Big Farming industry, who use 80% of the water untouched.

      California needs to scale back on its farming industry. That's where the biggest savings in water usage could be made. The Feds could help out as well, by refusing to pay subsidies to farmers who try to raise crops in a desert.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    9. Re:Mystery Solved by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 1

      I rate food as more useful as a nice lawn.

      --
      Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
  3. It's not really all that shocking. by Ziggitz · · Score: 1

    It would be pretty amazing if we were the only celestial body in our solar system that hydrogen and oxygen were present on.

    --
    There is no memory shortage. yes I have heard of XFCE. Go away.
    1. Re:It's not really all that shocking. by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      Well, if the assumption has been the water arrived here through cometary bombardment, and that modern comets and asteroids contain a fair bit of water ... shouldn't we be assuming that there would have to be vast amount of water in the universe?

      It sometimes people on the one hand keep saying "look at all the evidence of water", and then they turn around and say "holy cow, water".

      It just seems like at this point we should expect there to be water. So I'm not sure why people still keep acting like we're the only place where you'll find it.

      I'm more the mind which says "how could there not be water in vast quantities?

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:It's not really all that shocking. by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      Of course, since water is the 'universal solvent' this does not bode well for us.

      We're going to need a planet sized can of WD-40 to keep the galaxy from dissolving.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    3. Re:It's not really all that shocking. by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      LOL ... honestly, if you can have a cloud of alcohol in space which is 288 billion miles across ... given the sheer size of the universe, if there isn't a puddle of WD40 someplace in the universe I'll be surprised.

      Billions and billions of galaxies containing billions and billions of stars ... there's probably an an entire Astro Glide Nebula or something, and one made of just chocolate pudding. ;-)

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    4. Re:It's not really all that shocking. by donaldm · · Score: 1

      Billions and billions of galaxies containing billions and billions of stars ... there's probably an an entire Astro Glide Nebula or something, and one made of just chocolate pudding. ;-)

      Of course it may be possible to find a pizza shaped world carried on the back of four elephants who in turn are standing on the back of a gigantic star travelling turtle :-) (in memory of Terry Pratchett)

      --
      There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
    5. Re:It's not really all that shocking. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damnit, they found my supply. Gotta drink it before these hairless apes learn how to get to it.

    6. Re:It's not really all that shocking. by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      In a lot of people's minds, there is a near equation of water and life, and the possibility of extra-terrestial life scares them.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  4. Aqueduct by dcw3 · · Score: 1

    Maybe California can make an aqueduct.

    --
    Just another day in Paradise
  5. Coleridge was right! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Water water everywhere, nor any drop to drink."

  6. Poor California by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 4, Funny

    Looks like California is not part of the solar system. It does not seem to be awash in water.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:Poor California by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      Maybe they can pull water from Uranus.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    2. Re:Poor California by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      Given them a couple of years. After the state burns down this year or next , there will be massive mud slides that wash away a bunch of the state. This seems to happen a lot, first wild fires, then massive mud slides. A few years later repeat the cycle.

      --
      Time to offend someone
    3. Re:Poor California by DeVilla · · Score: 1

      What do you mean? They have an ocean right there.

  7. Actually... by sycodon · · Score: 2

    ...it is useable . And for about the same price as shipping it in from other states.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re:Actually... by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Exactly, California's problems are political in nature. They could have built proper infrastructure after the last drought, unfortunately, they decided that that was not a good way to spend the tax money.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    2. Re:Actually... by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      They could have built proper infrastructure after the last drought [...]

      Which would have turned into calls about how the government is wasting money building infrastructure that will never be used.

      All things are obvious with 20/20 hindsight.

    3. Re:Actually... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. To never expect a drought is just stupid. It is always a good idea to prepare for bad times, and to say otherwise is stupid. Building a high speed train is not doing anything in preparation for bad times though. We can call that stupid.

    4. Re:Actually... by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      So, when it was recommended previously, and they chose to waste money elsewhere, you were all cool with it?

      That part of California is practically a desert, not expecting the next drought is as boneheaded as can be. I believe the reasons they gave for not building the infrastructure was that it was too expensive to maintain when not in use. How expensive is that water now? Was it worth it?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  8. CALIF. CALLED. SAID IT WANTS SOME WATER! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Like the shake guarding his well in the arabian desert, you can't have. Unless you ~PAY~!

  9. Someone cannot math by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So... 150 billion cubic meters can cover Mars to a depth of 1 meter? That planet has shrunk. A lot. Was that supposed to be 150 billion cubic kilometers, perhaps?

    1. Re:Someone cannot math by bobbied · · Score: 1

      So they left off the prefix.... 3 decimal places is close enough for Astrophysics....

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    2. Re:Someone cannot math by loganljb · · Score: 1

      Actually, the article and summary are using long scale 'billion' not short scale 'billion', so the multiplier is 10^12 rather than 10^9. Us Yanks would call it 150 trillion cubic meters. See the wikipedia article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L....

      It's 3 orders of magnitude more water than most native English speakers would think.

    3. Re:Someone cannot math by Smerta · · Score: 1

      Except for the fact that adding the "kilo" prefix would result in 9 decimal places more water, not 3 ;-)

  10. Relativity by fnj · · Score: 4, Informative

    If it is true that Mars contains 150 billion cubic meters, that is still an infinitesimal amount compared to Earth. There is 1.35 billion cubic km in all the oceans on Earth, which is to say 1.35*10^18, or 1.35 billion billion cubic meters. Most of the surface of the Earth is covered by water, not one meter thick, but averaging over 3000 meters.

    98% of the mass of the universe is hydrogen and helium. Only 1% is oxygen.

    1. Re:Relativity by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

      Oxygen is the 1%

    2. Re:Relativity by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      According to the comments just above yours, the Mars number is using UK Billion, not US Billion, which would put the two numbers around on par with each other (1.5 b km^3 vs 1.35 b km^3 if I did my maths right).

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    3. Re:Relativity by mcrbids · · Score: 1

      That's the thing about standards: there are so many and you don't have to reveal which one you are using!

      --
      I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
  11. I imagine water is fairly common Universe wide by koan · · Score: 1

    It's not too much of a stretch to think life is just as common.

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  12. Quote Please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can someone please post the quote from 2010: Odyssey Two about Europa so they can be modded +5 informative?

  13. Math... It's wrong by Falconnan · · Score: 1

    150 billion cubic meters of ice would not cover Texas with half a meter of water. I am calling bad math.

    1. Re:Math... It's wrong by bobbied · · Score: 1

      I am calling bad math.

      I just chalk it up to astrophysics.... 3 decimal places is near enough!

      I'm guessing it's simply a copying mistake...

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    2. Re:Math... It's wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      150 billion cubic meters of ice would not cover Texas with half a meter of ice. I am calling bad math.

      150 billion cubic meters at 1 meter deep is 150 billion square meters. With about 1609.34 meters in a mile that puts the covered area at about 93 million square miles. Texas is awfully big if it's 186,000,000 square miles

  14. Re:Math... It's wrong-correction by Falconnan · · Score: 1

    Apologies, just over half a meter.

  15. Pluto? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So Pluto is a planet again?

    Yeah, I read TFA. Shoot me.

  16. Re:I know by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We should launch Californians into space

    Starting with just about everyone elected to state government..

  17. Re:CALIF. CALLED. SAID IT WANTS SOME WATER! by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    The Pacific ocean is right there. RIGHT THERE.

  18. In other news by BCtoo · · Score: 0

    Scientists have discovered there's lots of everything out there.

  19. Re:CALIF. CALLED. SAID IT WANTS SOME WATER! by Minwee · · Score: 1

    Like the shake guarding his well in the arabian desert, you can't have. Unless you ~PAY~!

    Do fries come with that sheik?

  20. Water Schmater by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    Wake me up when they find whiskey.

    1. Re:Water Schmater by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait until they find gold, diamonds and oil and the demand for spaceships will skyrocket.

    2. Re:Water Schmater by wbr1 · · Score: 1

      Not exactly ethanol, but: http://phys.org/news63346824.h...

      --
      Silence is a state of mime.
    3. Re:Water Schmater by spauldo · · Score: 1

      Gold: certain types of asteroids contain a decent amount of gold (and platinum group metals). After all, that's where all the gold in the Earth's crust came from.

      Diamonds: There was a theory that Jupiter and Saturn had diamond cores. Hard to get to, though. It was a plot point in the book 2069: A Space Odyssey.

      Oil: Methane is common (Uranus and Neptune have a shitload of it) and we're pretty sure Titan has lakes of ethane, methane, and propane. It rains methane there. I'm not a geochemist, but I imagine that given the abundance of hydrocarbons on the surface, there probably is something similar to crude oil underneath formed by pressure and time. I could be talking out my ass about the last one though.

      --
      Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach either, do tech support.
  21. Not water, but gold, oil and diamonds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When they find gold, oil and diamonds on other planets, we will see a space race for the resources in our solar system.

  22. Dear Solar System, by superdave80 · · Score: 1

    Please stop hogging all the water and send some to us. Sincerely, California

  23. Is this bad news for us? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So our solar system is awash with water. If you follow the cosmological principle that our place in the universe is not particularly special or unique in any way (I forget the name of this one), then many/most other solar systems should also have tons of water.

    Which would somehow plug back into the Drake Equation, greatly increasing the absolute number of planets in the observable universe that could support life, and correspondingly the number of advanced civilizations we should be able to detect.

    Yet, to reiterate Enrico Fermi's famous question, "Where are they?" Surely at least *one* advanced alien civilization, out of the thousands or millions we could expect, is beaming at our vicinity the interstellar equivalent of smoke signals, or a Morse code beacon?

    Does this strengthen the argument for the Great Filter? Example: faster-than-light travel, or lets say, viable cold fusion power is possible...but in an unfortunate catch-22, the experiments necessary to discover it tend to unexpectedly create massive black holes, which for a pre-warp species will invariably occur on their home world and only colonized planet.

    Qualifications: pessimist non-technical crackpot that sorta half way follows this stuff.

  24. No shit. by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

    Water is what you get when pretty much anything containing hydrogen reacts with pretty much anything containing oxygen, two very abundant elements.

  25. Awash in Water!?! by Zalbik · · Score: 2

    The Solar System is awash in water?!?!

    That's the last straw. I'm gonna build an ark.

    Anyone know where I can get a tape measure that measures in cubits?

    1. Re:Awash in Water!?! by spauldo · · Score: 1

      Cubit tape measure - scroll to the bottom. It's $6.50.

      (Yes, I'm aware of what day that became available.)

      --
      Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach either, do tech support.
  26. Alien plots need to be rewritten by Dutchmaan · · Score: 1

    Scientist 1: "They're here for the water!!!!" /GASP

    Nerdy Intern: "Actually, our solar system has tons of water that they don't need to waste resources destroying our civilization to gain access to it."

    Scientist 1: "They're here for the WOMEN!!!! /GASP

  27. So we're not going to get invaded? by BLToday · · Score: 1

    I guess it's a good thing that aliens won't need to invade us for water. May I suggest they take some things that I'm sure aren't available anywhere else in the universe. Please take people who are famous for being famous such as an heiress to a hotel fortune, her friend with the big butt and friend's husband.

  28. Infinity does not alwasy please by CmdrTamale · · Score: 1

    Just because there might be an infinity of alternatives does not mean all things are possible.

    There is an infinity of rational numbers between 0 and 1,
    but none of them is greater than 2.
    --
    Life is complex -- part real, part imaginary.

  29. Cost? by qzzpjs · · Score: 1

    I wonder how much that bottled water from Ganymede is going to cost in California?!