There may be life on Saturn's moon Enceladus

Posted on Thursday, March 09 2006 @ 21:44 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
The surface of Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons, is composed mostly of water ice and according to scientists that studied images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft there may be life in the cold ocean.
``Any life that existed could not be luxuriant and would have to deal with low temperatures, feeble metabolic energy and perhaps a severe chemical environment,'' said Jeffrey Kargel of the hydrology and water resources department at the University of Arizona in Tucson. ``Nevertheless we cannot discount the possibility that Enceladus might be life's distant outpost.''

Images show a plume of gases and water spouting from the moon's southern pole, similar to the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park in the western U.S., said Andrew Ingersoll, a member of the Cassini imaging team and an atmospheric scientist at the California Institute of Technology.
More details over at Bloomberg.


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Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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