Jupiter Moon’s Ocean Could Be Rich in Oxygen

Researchers continue to find evidence Europa may be hospitable to life-as-we know-it.

Researchers hunting for signs of life beyond Earth have long been drawn to Europa because several features of the moon’s icy surface — including its bright color, networks of long fractures and crater-free terrain — suggest that the moon contains a vast ocean buried under the ice. Now one researcher has calculated that the proposed ocean may receive about 100 times more oxygen than previous models indicated — enough to support respiration by 3 million tons of fish or their Europan equivalent.

SOURCE

While some may criticize the search for life for focusing on life-as-we-know-it, the problem with searching for other types is that we would not know what we are looking for and may not recognize it when we see it. It is most pragmatic to focus on what we know and search out places where conditions are favorable in those terms.

[edit on 14-10-2009 by DoomsdayRex]

reply to post by DoomsdayRex


Awesome.

It was only a few years ago that the outlook for planetary life-as-we-know-it elsewhere in our solar system seemed bleak. Venus, once thought to be a lush tropical place with many plants and oceans, turned out to be a horrible volcanic frying pan.

But this is good news, and yet, there is nothing I ca imagine scarier than investigating the depths of another planet's oceans for life.

Imagine what terrible things we may discover. Imagine if we discover intelligent civilized life beneath their seas?

What if we discover them, only to alert them to our existance and call them to come destroy us!?

Or maybe it will be full of Godzillas.

If there turns out to be complex life forms you can sign me up for the first colony. Ima be studying dem fishez.

The best part would be if what is alive on Europa is outside our current taxonomic hierarchical structure here on earth. Even if it just turns out to be totally alien (to the way we view them) microbes!

Do any of you have any idea what that would mean as far as life on other worlds outside our solar system?

Originally posted by BaronVonGodzilla
...Venus, once thought to be a lush tropical place with many plants and oceans, turned out to be a horrible volcanic frying pan...

I don't want to go too off topic here with DoomsdayRex's thread, but there are NASA scientists who believe that life may exist within the clouds of Venus.

Here is a post I made in another thread discussing this:
www.abovetopsecret.com...


Back on the topic of Europa..

...It is certainly a very interesting place, but hopefully the ice isn't so thick as to make it impossible for a robotic probe to actually "get to" the water sometime in the next 30 years or so.

I'm not saying it is impossible to bore through many km of ice someday, I'm just saying it may be impossible with our present technology and NASA's limited budget.

Originally posted by DaMod
...The best part would be if what is alive on Europa is outside our current taxonomic hierarchical structure here on earth. Even if it just turns out to be totally alien (to the way we view them) microbes!

Do any of you have any idea what that would mean as far as life on other worlds outside our solar system?

I agree. Finding life elsewhere in our solar system that formed totally independently from Earth's life could mean that life may be ubiquitous throughout the universe. Life independently arising in two places in one solar system could mean that perhaps life is a common and natural by-product of our universe.

However, the flip side of that is this: what if we find that all life we find in our solar system is very similar to Earth's life? That could possibly mean that the dust cloud that formed the solar system could have had the seed of life in it, therefore all life in the solar system formed from those seeds in a similar fashion.

If that was the case, then perhaps our primordial dust cloud was unique (or at least very uncommon) in that respect, and the majority of solar systems have no life. Although, I hope not.

Imagine if they found dolphins swimming under the surface of europa..

while it is not a fish. there is plenty of oxygen they say. so maybe there is some trapped under the ice and between the water.

[edit on 14-10-2009 by MR BOB]

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


That's very interesting, and I've never thought about it that way. Of course there is always the possibility that there is no life on Europa. There is good news though, we could still use Europa. If the waters are oxygen rich we might be able to seed Europa with some hearty species of our own and see what happens.

Personally I just hope we find life there.

I hope there are some really cool animals waiting there for us to discover. You do realize if we find complex life forms there will be a colony on Europa faster than you can say "NASA Who".