News: Life on Titan?

MaRy

Quote:

Worlds like Titan are too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface.

The extreme cold of the moon puts liquid water out of reach, and it is buried 31-62 miles (50–100 km) below a frigid ice crust.

But some scientists are exploring the possibility of whether a different kind of life could come about on these types of places.

In a paper published today in the journal PNAS, a group of scientists modeled whether a certain type of life-giving reactions might be possible under the conditions present on Titan.

Their simulations found a polymer, called polyimine, which forms from hydrogen cyanide (HCN), could drive chemistry on the surface of the moon.

'Our work shows that this polymer can make structures conducive to the chemical processes leading to life, and absorbs sunlight at wavelengths of light for which Titan's thick atmosphere is fairly transparent,' Professor Lunine told MailOnline.

'In the lakes, seas and shorelines discovered by Cassini, in the gulleys discovered by the Huygens probe that landed on Titan, some or all of the necessary chemical steps leading toward life might be underway, with polyimines playing an important part.'

'Whereas the surface pressure is similar to that of Earth, the temperature is extremely low and the dominant liquids are methane and ethane,' the authors wrote.

'This makes Titan a test case for exploring the environmental limits of prebiotic chemistry and addressing the question of whether life can develop without water.'

Research by scientists at Cornell University last year, including some of the same authors on the new paper, uggested life in the universe may be abundant in more places than we thought.

The life they proposed, called an azotosome, would be composed of small organic nitrogen compounds and be capable of functioning in liquid methane temperatures of -180°C (-292°F).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...onditions.html

RickyH.

The idea that life can flourish ONLY under the exact conditions we have here on Earth is so silly.

MaRy

Quote:

Originally posted by RickyH.

The idea that life can flourish ONLY under the exact conditions we have here on Earth is so silly.

Salacious

Quote:

Originally posted by RickyH.

The idea that life can flourish ONLY under the exact conditions we have here on Earth is so silly.

When laypeople think about life, they usually mean intelligent life, which would probably require Earth-like conditions.

bowdown

Quote:

Originally posted by RickyH.

The idea that life can flourish ONLY under the exact conditions we have here on Earth is so silly.

MTE. What kind of self-centered species bias?

vamp

Mermaids.

6 Apple St

Mermen

fabbriche

Methane is an extremely poor candidate for hosting life. If ever methane-based organisms exist they would likely only resemble something similar to earth's primitive bacteria.

Aiyan

Quote:

Originally posted by RickyH.

The idea that life can flourish ONLY under the exact conditions we have here on Earth is so silly.

Came to say this.
Just because life came to be on Earth on certains conditions doesn't mean these same conditions are required for life everywhere. Life is carbon based on earth, but it can be based on any other elements elsewhere, and it can maifest itself on any forms.

But hey, I guess this restrictive idea gives scientists a place to start digging.

DayFusion