Scientists – Something Living On Saturn’s Moon?

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Something is sucking up hydrogen on one of Saturn’s moons and NASA scientists believe it could be alive. Data from the Cassini probe suggests there is less hydrogen and acetylene on Titan’s surface than scientists expected, a phenomenon that could be explained by the existence of primitive, methane-based lifeforms, the researchers write.

“We suggested hydrogen consumption because it’s the obvious gas for life to consume on Titan, similar to the way we consume oxygen on Earth,” one of the astrobiologists says. “If these signs do turn out to be a sign of life, it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from water-based life on Earth.”

This from NASA:

Two new papers based on data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft scrutinize the complex chemical activity on the surface of Saturn‘s moon Titan. While non-biological chemistry offers one possible explanation, some scientists believe these chemical signatures bolster the argument for a primitive, exotic form of life or precursor to life on Titan‘s surface. According to one theory put forth by astrobiologists, the signatures fulfill two important conditions necessary for a hypothesized “methane-based life.”

One key finding comes from a paper online now in the journal Icarus 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.

NASA

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Holte Ender

Holte Ender will always try to see your point of view, but sometimes it is hard to stick his head that far up his @$$.
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Bee
13 years ago

Oooooh, I hope they’re right!!!!

13 years ago

“Some­thing is SUCKING up hydro­gen on one of Saturn’s moons”

I often wondered where Linda Lovelace ended up….;-)

13 years ago

Methane based lifeforms? Too bad we can’t get a few of those here. They might be able to solve the greenhouse gas problems.

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