To the chagrin of religious egos, scientists have found Titan has conditions possibly suitable for life.
The first paper, in the journal Icarus, shows that hydrogen gas flowing throughout the planet’s atmosphere disappeared at the surface. This suggested that alien forms could in fact breathe.
The second paper, in the Journal of Geophysical Research, concluded that there was lack of the chemical on the surface.
Scientists were then led to believe it had been possibly consumed by life.
Researchers had expected sunlight interacting with chemicals in the atmosphere to produce acetylene gas. But the Cassini probe did not detect any such gas.
Chris McKay, an astrobiologist at Nasa Ames Research Centre, at Moffett Field, California who led the research, said: “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.
It feels good that I don’t need to intentionally misinterpret scientific studies because they contradict long-held, traditionally based beliefs. The fact that there may be other life in our solar system isn’t all that surprising, especially since exceedingly strong evidence for ancient life on Mars has already been confirmed.
Filed under: Astronomy/Cosmology/Physics | Tagged: astrobiology, Cassini, Chris McKay, exolife, Extraterrestrial life, NASA Ames Research Centre, Titan | 1 Comment »
For the Sake of Science 