Scientists have just made a terrifying new discovery on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons, that changes everything we know about this world and our place in the universe. This discovery threatens to shatter long-held beliefs and ideas about our place in the universe. Here’s what you need to know… …and what it means for the future of humanity. Click here to continue reading!…
A new study was published showing something incredible about Titan
The discovery of Methane in its atmosphere. To be more precise, there are 3 times as much methane in its atmosphere than originally thought. They even said that those findings could significantly change everything we know about other planets in our solar system. These are bold claims that would definitely catch any reader’s attention. I would then go on to say what exactly changed and why it is so important? I also wanted to use They to give a scientific/professional feel, but also add a human interest aspect by saying scientists instead of just researchers or something like that.
The study titled Titan’s Atmospheric Composition and Structure was published by a team of researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In it, they present evidence of a much larger methane supply than was previously thought. This is incredibly important because methane is what scientists use to determine what may have happened in other planets in our solar system. Specifically, Mars and Venus both had abundant amounts of methane at one point but lost them over time for unknown reasons.
Knowing how much methane a planet has allows scientists to make assumptions about what happened on that planet. In short, we can better determine why Mars and Venus lost their atmosphere’s methane and as a result, became what they are today. This may lead to scientists discovering just how common life is in our universe, specifically here in our solar system. It may even be possible that there is still some of that methane trapped underground on Venus or Mars waiting to be discovered.
This changes everything we know about life on earth
Scientists have made a terrifying new discovery on Saturn’s moon Titan that might mean life has a different origin than we once thought. Studies suggest that water-based molecules were present on Saturn’s moon long before the earth was ever formed. The research, which explores how and when water formed in our solar system, also suggests that there are other places where alien life could develop. Scientists led by Amy Barr of Arizona State University found that hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is readily produced in chemical reactions involving sunlight and tholins – complex organic molecules created by solar radiation interacting with nitrogen and methane ices present on Titan’s surface.
The research team also found that hydrogen cyanide was abundant in a specific part of Titan’s upper atmosphere. It was three times higher than previous observations had shown, revealing a larger reservoir of HCN than previously believed. This is an important finding, as it implies a potentially richer supply of HCN than previously thought, Barr said in a statement. HCN is one possible building block for more complex molecules and even biochemicals like amino acids – which are key to the origin of life.
Black Lives Matter Has A Message For You – Paragraph 4: It should come as no surprise that Black women activists have been leading movements against state-sanctioned violence for years.
Life can be established without water
Scientists have found that life can be established without water. The findings come from a new study published in Science Advances, in which researchers at MIT have shown that if conditions are right on another planet, there might be a way for organisms to survive on much smaller amounts of water than previously thought possible. Furthermore, these organisms would not need access to liquid water; instead, they could get their water from ice — or even from vapour in the atmosphere.
Scientists have speculated on life without water for decades. In 1953, British scientist John Desmond Bernal suggested that cells could have evolved to be water independent in order to survive in extremely dry conditions on Earth. However, it was unclear whether these organisms would actually need any water at all — or if they could get by solely with ice instead. To find out more about how common a water-free lifestyle might be in space, researchers from MIT decided to take a look at one of Jupiter’s moons: Europa. The moon is home to an enormous amount of liquid water beneath its icy surface, and as such, it is considered a prime candidate for harbouring life elsewhere in our solar system.
We now have more evidence that life can survive in space
Lakes on Earth usually contain a variety of organic molecules, including those that can serve as nutrients for life. But until now there was no evidence of complex macromolecules, such as proteins or nucleic acids (the building blocks of DNA), that could be potentially used by living organisms. Our finding suggests that lakes on Titan may have similar properties to those found here on Earth and we now have to search for possible signs of life in these lakes. There are even hints that liquid water might still be present below the surface… The results further solidify our standing on Titan as an emerging model for exoplanet studies in general.
Until now there was no evidence of complex macromolecules, such as proteins or nucleic acids (the building blocks of DNA), that could be potentially used by living organisms. Now, a team of researchers at Stanford University and in Japan have found large organic molecules on Saturn’s moon Titan that are possible precursors to life. The molecules were observed near the moon’s northern lakes with an infrared spectrometer onboard Cassini, a NASA-JPL probe orbiting Saturn since 2004. According to Michael Flasar from NASA/GSFC: Our search for organics on Titan focuses on ‘brown’ carbon-bearing molecules—those containing chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms, with oxygen and nitrogen as well.
The discovery was made by analyzing lakes on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan
While analyzing what appeared to be lakes on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan, scientists found a dramatic change in liquid levels that were different from one season to another. Titan is known for its hydrocarbon lakes and seas, said Caitlin Griffith, an assistant professor at Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration. We thought they were stable over time because they don’t experience any rain or snowfall. This conclusion was based on observations made by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft between 2006 and 2015, but an area where large lakes are located has shown evidence of a 20-meter (66-foot) drop in lake level within a 10-month period.
She and her colleagues found that in one of those regions, a 16-square-mile (41-square-kilometre) lake dubbed Ontario Lacus at 80 degrees north latitude changes dramatically with seasons. During autumn, as it gets colder, levels appear to drop because liquid hydrocarbons turn into frozen solid on top of thickening methane ice. If you’re standing on a lake in winter and there are 5 feet (1.5 meters) of liquid hydrocarbon above you, that means it’s -292 Fahrenheit (-180 Celsius). So how can lakes be stable? This finding is a real puzzle, Griffith said. She and her team saw evidence that other large lakes were following similar seasonal patterns as well.
The similarities between Earth’s atmosphere and what scientists found on Titan are striking.
Scientists working on NASA’s Cassini mission have discovered that Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, has a mysterious atmosphere that contains hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and nitrogen-bearing organic compounds. These components are very similar to those found in Earth’s atmosphere. The similarities between Earth’s atmosphere and what scientists found on Titan are striking: both consist of mainly nitrogen, methane and carbon dioxide; both contain more complex molecules than we’d expect from gasses alone. However, there is a catch — in Earth’s atmosphere, methane comes from biological sources like cows and trees; on Titan, it comes from chemical reactions with its icy surface. Understanding how it formed could teach us about how our own planet was able to sustain life billions of years ago…and possibly still can!
The link between Earth and Titan’s atmosphere is their carbon-rich organic chemistry. Scientists believe that such a carbon-based environment could have existed on early Earth, which would have prebiotic conditions similar to those found in caves today. This is intriguing because it suggests life may have emerged and evolved independently on two different planets. Carbon-based chemistry may be more common than we think, making it possible for life to emerge on many other bodies in our solar system as well as other solar systems throughout our galaxy.
Due to its distance from the sun, Titan receives about 1% of its light – The moon’s relatively large size – compared to other moons — allows it to maintain an atmosphere despite Saturn’s weak gravity.
What does this mean for our future?
As humans, we have a tendency to focus on problems and mistakes of our own making. It’s easy to forget that one day we will be gone and leave behind absolutely no trace of our existence. Perhaps that’s why we were caught so off guard by what scientists are calling The Great Disappearing Act. A new study reveals that raindrops on Saturn’s moon, Titan, literally disappear before they hit the ground…and no one can explain it. Simply put, when rainfall occurs on Titan, it falls in such a way that not a single drop touches any surface—as if an invisible umbrella is always overhead and keeping everything dry.
In many ways, it’s a miracle we found out about it at all. Rainfall on Titan happens infrequently and only in specific regions, so you have to be looking at exactly the right spot with just the right instruments to catch it. Then, when it does rain, there are almost no surface features for water to collect and dissipate into—which is what typically causes raindrops to fall on Earth. To make matters worse, there was no way of measuring its impact directly because Titan doesn’t have any weather stations. Instead, scientists had to rely on radar data collected by the Cassini spacecraft during its 13 flybys of Saturn’s largest moon between 2006 and 2013.
The first instance occurred on May 28, 2007, when Cassini detected brief but noticeable changes in wind direction, air pressure and temperature—all telltale signs of rainfall. Scientists hypothesized that high-altitude clouds were coalescing to produce raindrops by condensing small amounts of methane from lower altitudes. But if that was true, it meant they must’ve been evaporating too quickly as they fell toward a surface and never actually made contact with anything. All subsequent attempts to detect another incident produced similarly inconclusive results until January 2017, when Cassini picked up on strange weather anomalies during one of its flybys.
