What is Consuming Hydrogen and Acetylene on Titan? (NASA)

[Drew Wilson]

PASADENA, Calif. - Two new papers based on data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft scrutinize the complex chemical activity on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan. While non-biological chemistry offers one possible explanation, some scientists believe these chemical signatures bolster the argument for a primitive, exotic form of life or precursor to life on Titan's surface. According to one theory put forth by astrobiologists, the signatures fulfill two important conditions necessary for a hypothesized "methane-based life."

One key finding comes from a paper online now in the journal Icarus that shows hydrogen molecules flowing down through Titan's atmosphere and disappearing at the surface. Another paper online now in the Journal of Geophysical Research maps hydrocarbons on the Titan surface and finds a lack of acetylene.

This lack of acetylene is important because that chemical would likely be the best energy source for a methane-based life on Titan, said Chris McKay, an astrobiologist at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., who proposed a set of conditions necessary for this kind of methane-based life on Titan in 2005. One interpretation of the acetylene data is that the hydrocarbon is being consumed as food. But McKay said the flow of hydrogen is even more critical because all of their proposed mechanisms involved the consumption of hydrogen.

"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," McKay said. "If these signs do turn out to be a sign of life, it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from water-based life on Earth."

More... (http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/titan20100603.html)

I'm thinking of a certain song for some reason (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDZBgHBHQT8)

[Mels_Smileys45]

Love this article Drew. This is the type of shiz I like to consume for the ol noodle! If such crazy complex life can form on a young planet like Earth anything is possible! I think most people definition of life is very limited because of what they were taught growing up. I think its possible that life is all around us at the sub atomic level. When people set off atomic bombs they may be killing off billions of forms of life, maybe many more intelligent than we. Perhaps mega structures (?) like our Earth are some type of life. Its a fact that life seems to grow out of the Earth in all kinds of shapes and forms. The Earth is our mother and without her none of this would exist!

Lately I have been thinking that the genetic code for life must be somehow stored and passed throughout the Universe and where the needs for that code are met life will begin. I conclude this because it seems the Earth is way too young for such a random, freakishly long genetic code to come together by chance. Of course since its random anything is possible but VERY highly unlikely! Surely the code information is never lost and is passed on in perhaps comets or asteroids. Maybe there is some kind of information highway we will never understand but is only accessible by the universe itself. It would NOT be nice if people could hack into this "code"!!! Ughhh! But you know some asshat would do just that! Jihad!!!

Shit, i gotta stop smoking so much K3!!

[Gamer8585]

Yes...soon all my plans will---

I mean, nothing to see there. Probably just ordinary and regular chemical reactions, no need to look any further at Titian or at this issue. Just keep living your lives...hey look, something shiny over there!



Lately I have been thinking that the genetic code for life must be somehow stored and passed throughout the Universe and where the needs for that code are met life will begin. I conclude this because it seems the Earth is way too young for such a random, freakishly long genetic code to come together by chance. Of course since its random anything is possible but VERY highly unlikely! Surely the code information is never lost and is passed on in perhaps comets or asteroids. Maybe there is some kind of information highway we will never understand but is only accessible by the universe itself. It would NOT be nice if people could hack into this "code"!!! Ughhh! But you know some asshat would do just that! Jihad!!!

Slow down their hoss. While the transition from disparate elements to complex life in a random system may take a longer time then it seems we've been around, evolution is less and less random as the possess goes on. Many characteristics aren't significantly detrimental to survival or reproduction so their kept for the process of diversification of the species. Also there have been periods of extreme change on the planet, and various regions thereof, necessitating an acceleration of adoption of characteristics necessary for survival.

Much of the initial development of human evolution toward intellect and social structures probably came during the last ice-age where food was scarce and it took the use of tools and community to survive.

The initial changing of basic amino acids into complex protein chains shortly after the cooling of Earth was probably due to the vast amount of water, free minerals, and electrical storms.

Smaller creatures generally have a shorter life span than larger ones, so the single cell organisms that resulted shortly after were most likely reproducing and dying much quicker then humans. The marine creatures and eventually land walkers that resulted afterward probably also had a short life span and a harsh environment and therefore evolved much quicker then many organisms today.

But I'm not an accredited evolutionary biologist so just take this as the ramblings of a madman, and ignore my work on Titan.

[Mels_Smileys45]

Hmmm, I am not sure what you are getting at but your comments sent my mind reeling and I have not took time to yet reflect on it before typing this sentence. Stored code Vs. Evolution. Hmmmx2...Evolution itself is a stored code with-in a species and all life on Earth share this code suggesting that all life sprang forth from the same source ( mud hole ) ...or does it suggest that? Seems like the most likely solution perhaps. But maybe the genetic code is shared by all life on Earth because all life in the universe uses the same basic structure for everything living. Perhaps this code comes preloaded with each and every universe produced. Perhaps as a black hole collapsed and swallowed up part of another universe it also swallowed the genetic code for life and since information is never lost that code got entangled with-in everything spat out on the other side of that black hole ( Big Bang! ) and that universe was/is teaming with life just like those Star Wars movies!

Man, I worked that out pretty well there as a free flow happening! One day I will be recognized as a God Damned GENIUS for my CORRECT ideas of the universes!