New research into Jupiter's fourth largest moon has revealed that the orbiting body contains enough oxygen to support complex, Earth-like lifeforms.
Though it has long been known that Europa has an oxygen-rich oceanic environment, this latest research indicates that the actual oxygen level found in the moon's copious bodies of water is up to 100 times greater than previously imagined. With oxygen being a key component for life as we know it, this discovery no doubt has scientists imagining adorable Spore-style critters swimming the frigid Europan waves, before running headlong into the cruel wall of reality.
As PhysOrg explains, though this could indicate alien beasts, there are still a number of logical hurdles to surmount before we can start budgeting cash to send teams of Firebats to boil any unfriendly looking lakes.
The global ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa contains about twice the liquid water of all the Earth's oceans combined. The chances for life there have been uncertain, because Europa's ocean lies beneath several miles of ice, which separates it from the production of oxygen at the surface by energetic charged particles (similar to cosmic rays). Without oxygen, life could conceivably exist at hot springs in the ocean floor using exotic metabolic chemistries, based on sulfur or the production of methane. However, it is not certain whether the ocean floor actually would provide the conditions for such life. Therefore a key question has been whether enough oxygen reaches the ocean to support the oxygen-based metabolic process that is most familiar to us. An answer comes from considering the young age of Europa's surface. Its geology and the paucity of impact craters suggests that the top of the ice is continually reformed such that the current surface is only about 50 million years old, roughly 1% of the age of the solar system.
In short, it seems that Europa is an excellent candidate for supporting extraterrestrial life, but realistically speaking, if there are any life forms up there, they are most likely very rudimentary (think: the same sort of single and multi-cellular organisms from which all life on Earth eventually evolved).
It's something of a bummer to realize that all that sweet, sweet oxygen is going to waste on the evolutionary equivalent of Magikarp, but it's also probably for the best. If Europa was home to Giger-esque living nightmares, it would only be a matter of time before we were all impregnated by ropey little spider creatures with absolutely no regard for our collective upper gastronomic tracts.
I'm afraid I jave to pop everyone's intergalactic home story here by reminding us that at present we've only been able to successfully land on the Moon (we've sent probes to Mars but I don't think that really counts in this context).
This might not mean life though since earth life existed in anaerobic (no oxygen environment) and then bacteria produced the oxygen as a waste product dominating the planet since it was toxic to other microbes. If this oxygen has always been there it might not favour the original cells etc that formed.
However if geological evidence could should it appeared over a period of time (with a sudden change, in terms of geological time, in the level of oxygen in the level of atmosphere through the level of oxygen stored in rocks) it could indicate there had been a boom in oxygen producing bacteria.
Although in theory we could colonise, take a fair while to get there though
orangebandguy: I wonder what kind of beasts there are. Hopefully not Jar Jar Binks or something. He lived underwater as well, it's a bad omen.
On a serious note, it seems unlikely we'll find anything because the ice is too thick and it would be too expensive to run the operation.
not for the American government! nothing's too expensive for us!
Just be sure to label it as: a cause for freedom, to give equal protection to all intersolar species, and/or because oils there. We'll friggen have a colony in a few months with our current congress in power! Does it matter if they read ANYTHING about the fact we're also gonna take building supplies to construct a new private home for one of the most influencial lobbyist or that their bill to colonize a planet has 2.2 billion dollars to support underwater basket weaving competitions in kenya? nope! We're going to save the extraterrestrial whales and reduce our dependence on terrestrial oil! We'll secure our future for decades. :]
We might have been some other life-bearing planet's Jupiter. Suck it Christianity.
We'll pull through, Bible never explicitly mentions America either now does it?
Is that a pro or anti Christianity statement? (Cant tell >.>)
Whichever it is, religious arguments have no place in this thread, in my opinion. Take it outside.
messy: This might not mean life though since earth life existed in anaerobic (no oxygen environment) and then bacteria produced the oxygen as a waste product dominating the planet since it was toxic to other microbes. If this oxygen has always been there it might not favour the original cells etc that formed.
However if geological evidence could should it appeared over a period of time (with a sudden change, in terms of geological time, in the level of oxygen in the level of atmosphere through the level of oxygen stored in rocks) it could indicate there had been a boom in oxygen producing bacteria.
Although in theory we could colonise, take a fair while to get there though
Exactly. Life formed in a very hostile environment on Earth, then the protobionts and later prokaryotes changed the composition over 1+ billion years. An Earth like environment would probably not spark life, unless life as we know it was already there.
We might have been some other life-bearing planet's Jupiter. Suck it Christianity.
We'll pull through, Bible never explicitly mentions America either now does it?
Is that a pro or anti Christianity statement? (Cant tell >.>)
Whichever it is, religious arguments have no place in this thread, in my opinion. Take it outside.
Or better yet, do us all a favor and drop the whole argument. I mean come on, this is just like what happened when the unique fossil was discovered earlier this year. People used it as an argument against religion.
Anyways, I find it fascinating that life (aside from Earth) may exist within our own solar system.
We might have been some other life-bearing planet's Jupiter. Suck it Christianity.
I'm offended that you believe all people who believe in god believe there is no possible way there is life somewhere else, I believe its impossible there isn't. I also believe in evolution to a certain extent. Hell my grandfather believes that the Garden of Eden is actually on Mars and the four angels that guard its borders destroyed the mars rover that tried to cross into it. Yea we're pretty crazy but not everyone is a bible bond crazy. I see the bible as more of a guide than a book of rules. That said, it saddens me to know I probably won't see alien life in my life time.
I wonder what religion will say about this if there are, in fact, "aliens," even if they are multi cellular organisms, it would force us to consider other, let's say, extensions of the situation.
What is...gasp! Those extensions don't believe in Jesus?!
We might have been some other life-bearing planet's Jupiter. Suck it Christianity.
I'm offended that you believe all people who believe in god believe there is no possible way there is life somewhere else, I believe its impossible there isn't. I also believe in evolution to a certain extent. Hell my grandfather believes that the Garden of Eden is actually on Mars and the four angels that guard its borders destroyed the mars rover that tried to cross into it. Yea we're pretty crazy but not everyone is a bible bond crazy. I see the bible as more of a guide than a book of rules. That said, it saddens me to know I probably won't see alien life in my life time.
Quoted for truth. I myself am a religious person (though not Christian) but I still think it's inevitable that life exists elsewhere.
If there's any kind of life in our solar system other than us, that's great news, one can only imagine the possibilities beyond our solar system.
EDiT: There's also great potential to research just how far abiogenesis really can go. If life could start with so little energy from the sun, there are many, many possibilities for extraterrestrial life.
Meh. It's far, it's (probably) cold, that moon in smaller than our moon and people can't live only with oxygen. How could people get there? Wouldn't air in their space ships run out before they get there? What would people eat while flying? What's to eat there? It's not like we can just fly there and colonize it. ...eh. And stop talking about religion here! Your the dumbass if you start religious arguments here! Religion never said (i think) that there is no life on other planets. You don't see religious people coming here and saying ''Oh, that's the place where the God lives, we'll go there and you'll all see that there is a God, har har har. Science sucks!''
messy: This might not mean life though since earth life existed in anaerobic (no oxygen environment) and then bacteria produced the oxygen as a waste product dominating the planet since it was toxic to other microbes. If this oxygen has always been there it might not favour the original cells etc that formed.
However if geological evidence could should it appeared over a period of time (with a sudden change, in terms of geological time, in the level of oxygen in the level of atmosphere through the level of oxygen stored in rocks) it could indicate there had been a boom in oxygen producing bacteria.
Although in theory we could colonise, take a fair while to get there though
It's not so bad, only 6 years with nucler propulsion.The internet lag from there would be awefull though.
We might have been some other life-bearing planet's Jupiter. Suck it Christianity.
Hell my grandfather believes that the Garden of Eden is actually on Mars and the four angels that guard its borders destroyed the mars rover that tried to cross into it.
That sounds like the basis for a kickass sci-fi novel...does your grandfather have any writing talent? If so, make him write it, and I'll buy it.
What are we waiting for lets go, it would be pretty cool to live on Jupiter. Imagine a conversation at uni. "Are you an international student" "Yeah" "Where do you come from?" "Oh a small place in Jupiter, its not that far from here". I think i maybe slightly over tired.
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Jupiter's Moon Has Enough Oxygen to Sustain Earth-Like Life
New research into Jupiter's fourth largest moon has revealed that the orbiting body contains enough oxygen to support complex, Earth-like lifeforms.
Though it has long been known that Europa has an oxygen-rich oceanic environment, this latest research indicates that the actual oxygen level found in the moon's copious bodies of water is up to 100 times greater than previously imagined. With oxygen being a key component for life as we know it, this discovery no doubt has scientists imagining adorable Spore-style critters swimming the frigid Europan waves, before running headlong into the cruel wall of reality.
As PhysOrg explains, though this could indicate alien beasts, there are still a number of logical hurdles to surmount before we can start budgeting cash to send teams of Firebats to boil any unfriendly looking lakes.
In short, it seems that Europa is an excellent candidate for supporting extraterrestrial life, but realistically speaking, if there are any life forms up there, they are most likely very rudimentary (think: the same sort of single and multi-cellular organisms from which all life on Earth eventually evolved).
It's something of a bummer to realize that all that sweet, sweet oxygen is going to waste on the evolutionary equivalent of Magikarp, but it's also probably for the best. If Europa was home to Giger-esque living nightmares, it would only be a matter of time before we were all impregnated by ropey little spider creatures with absolutely no regard for our collective upper gastronomic tracts.
(Image)
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