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Electricity Found on Saturn Moon--Could It Spark Life?

Posted October 29, 2008 10:08 AM

From National Geographic News:

Recently identified electrical activity on Saturn's largest moon bolsters arguments that Titan is the kind of place that could harbor life. At a brisk -350 degrees Fahrenheit (-180 Celsius), Titan is currently much too cold to host anything close to life as we know it, scientists say. But a new study reports faint signs of a natural electric field in Titan's thick cloud cover that are similar to the energy radiated by lightning on Earth. Lightning is thought to have sparked the chemical reactions that led to the origin of life on our planet. "As of now, lightning activity has not been observed in Titan's atmosphere," said lead author Juan Antonio Morente of the University of Granada in Spain. But, he said, the signals that have been detected "are an irrefutable proof for the existence of electric activity."

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#1

Re: Electricity Found on Saturn Moon--Could It Spark Life?

10/31/2008 11:13 PM

There are the interesting words included: Could, might, auguments, and more vague possibility think-talk.

The real story is at the end of page 2 of the Article:

<"....What astronomers do know is that Titan does not have its own magnetic field, he said. The moon instead orbits within Saturn's magnetosphere at differing distances from the planet.

This means that the strength of Titan's magnetic field is constantly changing, leaving its surface more vulnerable to damaging cosmic rays.

Without stable protection from radiation, Morente said, "the existence of life is very unlikely."....">

The situation on Planet Earth for life is unique, much as we could/might/hope/speculate otherwise.

Kind Regards....

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