Cassini Finds Organic Material on Titan

dr. what · Post by **dr. what** » 2005-04-27 09:37am

PASADENA, Calif. - A close flyby of Saturn's big moon Titan by the international Cassini spacecraft revealed an upper atmosphere brimming with complex organic material, a finding that could hold clues to how life arose on Earth, scientists said Monday.

Cassini flew within 638 miles of Titan's frozen surface on April 16 and discovered a hydrocarbon-laced upper atmosphere.

Titan's atmosphere is mainly made up of nitrogen and methane, the simplest type of hydrocarbon. But scientists were surprised to find complex organic material in the latest flyby. Because Titan is extremely cold — about minus 290 degrees — scientists expected the organic material to condense and rain down to the surface.

"We are beginning to appreciate the role of the upper atmosphere in the complex carbon cycle that occurs on Titan," said Hunter Waite, a professor at the University of Michigan.

Scientists believe Titan's atmosphere may be similar to that of the primordial Earth and studying it could provide clues to how life began.

The $3.3 billion Cassini mission, funded by NASA and the European and Italian space agencies, was launched in 1997 and took seven years to reach Saturn. The European Huygens probe carried aboard Cassini was released on Dec. 24 and plunged to the surface of Titan in January.

Huzzah!

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-04-27 10:53am

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2005-04-27 11:05am

Sillies....we all know God started everything. Why all this jibber jabber about hydrocarbons and complex organic material?

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2005-04-27 11:10am

It seems to be a good year for life on other planets, remember that martian methane stuff that was on the board last week? I had a word with our university resident martian expert (who is always very fond of telling us how much he's contributed to the martian research stuff) about it and he seemed very dismissive of the volcanic theory, and said that barring some hitherto unknown method of creating methane is discovered, there's a very good chance that it's biological!

Proto-life on Titan and life on Maaaaars? Great news!

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-04-27 11:13am

Stravo wrote:Sillies....we all know God started everything. Why all this jibber jabber about hydrocarbons and complex organic material?

I'd throw something at you, Strav, but as skinny as you're getting I'd probably miss.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2005-04-27 12:21pm

Pfft, proto-life? Either there's life, or there isn't. Everyone knows the chemical bonds that make us up couldn't have formed by themselves.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2005-04-27 12:46pm

What I like is that organic material's been found in such a distant and harsh place as Titan. This makes the chance of life appearing in other parts of the galaxy more likely.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-04-27 12:48pm

Very little about proto life can survive me after we found sugar in space.

Post by **Lagmonster** » 2005-04-27 12:54pm

I'll wager that the find wasn't a huge surprise to the people at the heart of the research, but it's a welcome confirmation nonetheless.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2005-04-27 01:05pm

Imperial Overlord wrote:Very little about proto life can survive me after we found sugar in space.

Sorry, that should be surprise me.

Darth Raptor · Post by **Darth Raptor** » 2005-04-27 01:08pm

Shinova wrote:What I like is that organic material's been found in such a distant and harsh place as Titan. This makes the chance of life appearing in other parts of the galaxy more likely.

Agreed. The notion that life is a bizarre, nigh-miraculous occurance that can only appear on worlds where every condition is EXACTLY right is starting to erode.

Life is beginning to look more like a resiliant and insurmountable force of nature that will appear anytime, anywhere if given half a chance. At least three worlds in the same system... there has to be a party going on in the greater galaxy somewhere.

Imperial Overlord wrote:Sorry, that should be surprise me.

I thought you were talking about going on a galaxy-wide rampage of consumption.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-04-27 02:31pm

This is great news, I only hope we find this theory of life being much more abundant to be truer as the days go by.

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2005-04-27 03:59pm

Oy, don't forget Europa. It's more than likely 4 worlds with microbial or proto-microbial life. And they all appear to be carbon-based. We haven't even gotten into alternatives...

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-04-27 04:25pm

Imperial Overlord wrote:
Imperial Overlord wrote:Very little about proto life can survive me after we found sugar in space.
Sorry, that should be surprise me.

No, no, stay the original. I do believe I shall FUQ that.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2005-04-27 05:34pm

Stravo wrote:Sillies....we all know God started everything. Why all this jibber jabber about hydrocarbons and complex organic material?

Lukewarm condemnations such as this will earn you a place in the pit, Stravo.

Any saved individual employing right-reasoned thought can see through these lies of Satan, this is nothing but a liberal media attampt to oppress Christianity and impose the Militant Homosexual Agenda.

Quadlok · Post by **Quadlok** » 2005-04-27 06:23pm

Hydrocarbons, eh? When does the drilling begin?

I'm still holding out for the possibility of giant hyperintelligent tube worms on Europa. I bet they'd be delicious.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2005-04-27 06:34pm

Quadlok wrote:Hydrocarbons, eh? When does the drilling begin?

I'm still holding out for the possibility of giant hyperintelligent tube worms on Europa. I bet they'd be delicious.

Dunno, the terrestrial variety smell so bad that eating them is an impossible proposition, apparently. Same goes for all the life found around deep-sea vents, too much sulfur in the water makes for a fartsy smelling meal.

The Guid · Post by **The Guid** » 2005-04-28 05:23am

Stravo wrote:Sillies....we all know God started everything. Why all this jibber jabber about hydrocarbons and complex organic material?

Great is the mystery of faith. Personally I think an all powerful being can understand hydrocarbons and complex organic material. Slightly off topic but I felt that a Christian should just hold up some kind of banner to say we're not all stupid.

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » 2005-04-28 07:23am

The Guid wrote:
Stravo wrote:Sillies....we all know God started everything. Why all this jibber jabber about hydrocarbons and complex organic material?
Great is the mystery of faith. Personally I think an all powerful being can understand hydrocarbons and complex organic material. Slightly off topic but I felt that a Christian should just hold up some kind of banner to say we're not all stupid.

Who said all Christians were "all stupid"? He's poking fun at creationism, not Christianity in general.

Meanwhile, between this, the possibility of biological activity on Mars, and the discovery of soft tissue in a T-Rex bone, this is starting out to be a great year for science.

Lord Zentei · Post by **Lord Zentei** » 2005-04-28 07:31am

The Guid wrote:
Stravo wrote:Sillies....we all know God started everything. Why all this jibber jabber about hydrocarbons and complex organic material?
Great is the mystery of faith. Personally I think an all powerful being can understand hydrocarbons and complex organic material. Slightly off topic but I felt that a Christian should just hold up some kind of banner to say we're not all stupid.

Abiogenesis (the emergence of life from lifenessness through natural processes) and the emergence of speces through the evolution of life are not incompatible with the idea of God, just incompatible with the idea of a literal interpretation of the Bible. See my post in a recent thread:

http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic. ... 0&start=38

That said, I do not beleive in God personally since he violates the principle of parsimony, as William of Ocham showed. Of course, he was a true beleiver and his intent was to show that logic was not a valid justification for faith. Thus ultimately, you must accept a pinch of irrationality if you wish to beleive in God, but that does not mean that you need to discard science in general.

The Guid · Post by **The Guid** » 2005-04-28 08:04am

Firefox wrote:
The Guid wrote:
Stravo wrote:Sillies....we all know God started everything. Why all this jibber jabber about hydrocarbons and complex organic material?
Great is the mystery of faith. Personally I think an all powerful being can understand hydrocarbons and complex organic material. Slightly off topic but I felt that a Christian should just hold up some kind of banner to say we're not all stupid.
Who said all Christians were "all stupid"? He's poking fun at creationism, not Christianity in general.

Agreed, just felt a bit compelled to just make a side note. Never assumed Stravo was implying an insult on the whole of Christianity, just felt that without a reply it could just linger there.

VT-16 · Post by **VT-16** » 2005-04-28 09:27am

Personally I think an all powerful being can understand hydrocarbons and complex organic material

According to the story, he invented the damn things, so he´d better understand them!

Post by **Coyote** » 2005-04-28 11:26am

So if the basics of life are so prevelant even in a comparatively backwater system like ours, then the odds point to a galaxy potentially teeming with life, even if it is cellular, or at most complex, lichens... that's cool.

Darth Raptor · Post by **Darth Raptor** » 2005-04-28 12:57pm

Coyote wrote:So if the basics of life are so prevelant even in a comparatively backwater system like ours, then the odds point to a galaxy potentially teeming with life, even if it is cellular, or at most complex, lichens... that's cool.

Why stop there? So many people find the galaxy's dead air as disheartening proof that the greater universe is dead. Nevermind the fact that Earth itself was teeming with complex, multicellular life for about 600 million years before it started broadcasting its own radio waves.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2005-04-28 01:15pm

Cool. The sweatshops will have new victims to exploit.