Not that anyone would read this, but putting the following retractions/corrections here as a matter of 'principle'.
Turns out - surprise surprise - that I was WRONG yet again: [color="#0000FF"]I was wrong about which moon had the pinkish streaks on the ice surface.[/color] I was actually right the first time when I claimed it was Jupiter: having dug out Cox again to look for confirmation, [color="#0000FF"]it's Jupiter's moon - Europa[/color] and not Io, btw, as everyone else would know, but my knowledge of moons is even worse than my knowledge of the nearby planets - that has the pink streaks after all. Europa also has liquid water - Cox actually noted this was salt water - and its pinkish surface streaks are thought to possibly be bacteria. Any Europans would then be our nearest extant cousins, proximity-wise, being in our planetary neighbourhood. (Although, as people would know, numerous famous physicists* think there's a possibility that early microbes on our planet could well have got to Earth by hitching a ride here from Mars or from further "out in space" :handwaving:, via space debris for example, and set up camp here on Earth once they got wafted/hurled over. *IIRC, one of whom described this possibility as indicating a larger "biological continuity" in our spatial vicinity and even used the old analogy of how it's "like exchanging spit" on this solar-system wide scale.)
[color="#0000FF"]I wasn't totally wrong about Enceladus[/color], however:
1. as per the recent reveal on the Cassini mission, Enceladus does indeed have liquid water.
2. and if it has liquid water, you know space biologists will be all over that one looking for life - starting with microbes - which is what they're indeed doing.
Since we're water-based life-forms on this here planet, Enceladus could therefore potentially harbour water-based life as well.
3. However, while Europa is subject to Orbital Resonance courtesy Jupiter, I am now not certain of remembering anyone stating that Enceladus is too, but since it has liquid water, surely something must be keeping its temperature up despite that distance, so Orbital Resonance may not be an impossibility. (Can't remember which moon was the one that had cold-looking geysers erupting. Perhaps it was Enceladus, but can't remember. However, if it were, then surely Orbital Resonance could be a prime suspect?)
Proof for the first 2 claims:
news.uk.msn.com/in-pictures/cassini-spacecraft-discovers-ocean-in-saturn-moon-25
Please the Daoist Gods, let there be Enceladans. Microbes can't be underestimated as it will still prove the greatly-missed American space-biologist was right all along: the possibility of life on just one more planet is surely heavy indication for the thrilling possibilities of life (incl. intelligent, technologically advanced life) in the extended universe. We'll finally have definite evidence for what has so far been high statistical probabilities aka educated 'guessing'.
And if it turns out that there are indeed Enceladans and Europans (space bacteria) - besides all us Earthlings - then our own solar system just got even more exciting.
Correction to this too:
Ooh, there's a link there to something else that's intriguing - okay, posting for purely gratuitous reasons (i.e. furry infant mammal pictures):
news.uk.msn.com/in-pictures/is-it-a-goat-is-it-a-sheep-no-its-a-geep291118
The important points in this post:
[color="#0000FF"]- I was wrong about which moon had the pinkish streaks (which are thought to be bacteria) on its ice surface and a liquid ocean underneath: that was Jupiter's moon Europa after all.
- But as per recent news reports, the Cassini mission has certainly found a subterranean ocean of liquid water on Enceladus and so scientists are indeed looking for microbes there.
news.uk.msn.com/in-pictures/cassini-spacecraft-discovers-ocean-in-saturn-moon-25[/color]
Turns out - surprise surprise - that I was WRONG yet again: [color="#0000FF"]I was wrong about which moon had the pinkish streaks on the ice surface.[/color] I was actually right the first time when I claimed it was Jupiter: having dug out Cox again to look for confirmation, [color="#0000FF"]it's Jupiter's moon - Europa[/color] and not Io, btw, as everyone else would know, but my knowledge of moons is even worse than my knowledge of the nearby planets - that has the pink streaks after all. Europa also has liquid water - Cox actually noted this was salt water - and its pinkish surface streaks are thought to possibly be bacteria. Any Europans would then be our nearest extant cousins, proximity-wise, being in our planetary neighbourhood. (Although, as people would know, numerous famous physicists* think there's a possibility that early microbes on our planet could well have got to Earth by hitching a ride here from Mars or from further "out in space" :handwaving:, via space debris for example, and set up camp here on Earth once they got wafted/hurled over. *IIRC, one of whom described this possibility as indicating a larger "biological continuity" in our spatial vicinity and even used the old analogy of how it's "like exchanging spit" on this solar-system wide scale.)
[color="#0000FF"]I wasn't totally wrong about Enceladus[/color], however:
1. as per the recent reveal on the Cassini mission, Enceladus does indeed have liquid water.
2. and if it has liquid water, you know space biologists will be all over that one looking for life - starting with microbes - which is what they're indeed doing.
Since we're water-based life-forms on this here planet, Enceladus could therefore potentially harbour water-based life as well.
3. However, while Europa is subject to Orbital Resonance courtesy Jupiter, I am now not certain of remembering anyone stating that Enceladus is too, but since it has liquid water, surely something must be keeping its temperature up despite that distance, so Orbital Resonance may not be an impossibility. (Can't remember which moon was the one that had cold-looking geysers erupting. Perhaps it was Enceladus, but can't remember. However, if it were, then surely Orbital Resonance could be a prime suspect?)
Proof for the first 2 claims:
news.uk.msn.com/in-pictures/cassini-spacecraft-discovers-ocean-in-saturn-moon-25
Quote:Cassini spacecraft discovers ocean in Saturn moon(The 2nd picture in the slideshow shows that this rather beautiful moon, Enceladus, has more bluish-looking streaks on it.)
[color="#0000FF"]Slide 1: Nasa's Cassini spacecraft and Deep Space Network have uncovered evidence that one of Saturn's moons contains a large underground ocean of liquid water.
Slide 2: The discovery on Enceladus extends scientific interest in the moon as a potential home to extra-terrestrial microbes. It supports the belief that Enceladus is among the most likely places in our solar system to host microbial life.[/color]
Slide 3: Doppler Effect. Using the Doppler Effect and measurements from Cassini, scientists estimate an ocean about six miles (10km) deep, beneath an ice shell that is around 25 miles (40 km) thick.
[...]
Please the Daoist Gods, let there be Enceladans. Microbes can't be underestimated as it will still prove the greatly-missed American space-biologist was right all along: the possibility of life on just one more planet is surely heavy indication for the thrilling possibilities of life (incl. intelligent, technologically advanced life) in the extended universe. We'll finally have definite evidence for what has so far been high statistical probabilities aka educated 'guessing'.
And if it turns out that there are indeed Enceladans and Europans (space bacteria) - besides all us Earthlings - then our own solar system just got even more exciting.
Correction to this too:
Quote:Caroline Porko (sp?) - who from interviews reminds me of the blueprint/the inspiration for the awesome Capt Kathryn Janeway; there's certainly some facial resemblance IMO - was on the team that did the preparations/planning for the Cassini mission, I believe.The likeable physicist's name is [color="#0000FF"]spelled Caroline Porco.[/color]
Ooh, there's a link there to something else that's intriguing - okay, posting for purely gratuitous reasons (i.e. furry infant mammal pictures):
news.uk.msn.com/in-pictures/is-it-a-goat-is-it-a-sheep-no-its-a-geep291118
Quote:Is it a baby goat? Is it a baby sheep? No, it's a newborn 'geep'[color="#0000FF"]Pics[/color] at link. Looks lovely.
Ewe what?! A rare birth of a goat-sheep on an Irish farm has led the animal to be crowned a 'geep'.
Stunned farm owner Pat Murphy said the arrival of the hybrid animal two weeks ago came as a "shock to the system" after generations of farming.
The cross-breeding was accidental but appears to have not hindered the happy and healthy young animal.
The important points in this post:
[color="#0000FF"]- I was wrong about which moon had the pinkish streaks (which are thought to be bacteria) on its ice surface and a liquid ocean underneath: that was Jupiter's moon Europa after all.
- But as per recent news reports, the Cassini mission has certainly found a subterranean ocean of liquid water on Enceladus and so scientists are indeed looking for microbes there.
news.uk.msn.com/in-pictures/cassini-spacecraft-discovers-ocean-in-saturn-moon-25[/color]