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Is an Alien Life Form Consuming the Hydrogen and Acetylene on Titan?

06/09/2010 02:31AM

Is an Alien Life Form Consuming the Hydrogen and Acetylene on Titan?

Two new research efforts based on data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft have scrutinized 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 form. To date, methane-based life forms are only hypothetical. Scientists have not yet detected this form of life anywhere, though there are liquid-water-based microbes on Earth that thrive on methane or produce it as a waste product.


Comments:

  • Michael_Mc [Michael McCulloch]
  • 06/09/2010 09:22PM
I would like to see more probes sent to Titan in the short term than Europa. Titan seems like a scientific gold mine and it would seem to be an easier (i.e. lest costly) mission than landing on Europa and drilling through miles of ice.