Scientists discover ingredients for life on Saturn moon

Scientists say there's a place in our solar system outside of Earth that has the chemical make-up to potentially support life. Researchers found that Saturn's sixth largest moon -- Enceladus -- has an ocean that contains phosphorus, which is found in human teeth, bones and DNA. CBS News space consultant Bill Harwood joins from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to discuss what's next for scientists.

#news #science #space

[avigindratt]

the phosphorus in our bones is so fascinating. It's the hardest part of our bone and the only inorganic material in our bodies. So I like to think of it like we're just rock people walking around. Even cooler, the phosphate mineral called apatite makes a hexagonal lattice structure that gives it its strength

[sandro]

Am i the only one thinking Enceladus is even more likely to host life then either Europa or Titan?

[ashtray]

We're gonna find the octopuses home planet. We knew you were aliens, you little geniuses

[Geeksmithing]

The correspondents condescending laughter illustrates the hubris that needs to be stripped away when searching for such life.

[klakkinkittykat]

imagine if we spent that 34 trillion military budget on space exploration..we'd be living on mars by now headed towards Saturn but we got weapons to buy ..sheesh

[binderchannel]

The key point is " life as we know"! people tend to think of aliens as things similar to us or animals on Earth with hands and legs and mouths and they have civilization like us.

[militarymoments]

How convenient after all the alien talk lol

[gregoryvassiliou]

Amateur astronomers like me have been enamored with the little moon of Enceladus ever since Cassini passed by it showing the amazing shots of spewing geysers and loads of water ice. Even though the Dragofly mission of Titan is a big mission coming soon, Enceladus should be of the utmost importance for nasa in the very near future. Any form of life counts, whether it’s small or large. Enceladus, without question, contains life.

[JewishKeto]

If there is life there… I think it might be bacteria or something else microscopic

[lynbeck]

Awesome universe silly to think we’re the only ones

[savannahm.laurentian]

Two-legged locusts moving from planet to planet, devouring resources is part of many indigenous mythologies🤔

[caseroj]

They key point being made by this whole debate is that we (humans) are looking for evidence of life by using the chemistry of life on earth as a example. That is an incredibly narrow point of view to take and yet we find the ingredients on another world in our own cosmic back yard. Think about that for a second. We are looking for the finger prints of life based solely on the example we know of (earth) and yet it's remarkably simple to discover it. Now expand the perspective so that the definition of life doesn't require the exact same chemistry we find here on earth! By taking off the blinders so to speak we can suddenly see the universe must be teeming with life that most likely doesn't much resemble the examples of life we see on earth. It's not much of a leap of imagination either. All that's required is a cursory understanding of statistical probabilities and a realization that there are enormous quantities of exoplanets out in the universe. In fact I would be more surprised if it turned out that the earth was the only example of life in the universe!

[Trippp]

I mean I have the ingredients for a ham and turkey sandwich in my fridge. They’re all there, in one place, and in the perfect situation, they’d end up together and bringing me joy. But alas, even tho they say Life finds a way. My wife, has not. So no ham and turkey sandwiches are currently being made in my house.

[Narrowgaugefilms]

I wonder if it wouldn't be enough to get a spacecraft near to one of the geysers and capture a sample of the water for either local biological analysis or return to Earth.
You would be hard pressed to sample cool water from anywhere on Earth and not find protozoan organisms.

[mrpadingading]

I don’t think making a hole in it would be good

[lestagez]

i feel ike i hear something about ingredients for life on a moon every other year,

[michaeljordanfansaretheworst]

Don't let this distract you to what they do to life in factory farms then.

[antinatalope]

Keep in mind, even with the right elements, planets have limited windows of opportunity to actually flourish and create life.

[racookster]

Unfortunately, we're not likely to find out in my lifetime. I'm no fan of nuclear fission for earthbound power stations, but we need it for space travel. Chemical rockets are too slow. Fusion would be better, but that's still a pipe dream. As for matter-antimatter reactors (annihilation), forget it.

[nimajdagreat]

I never know life to be an ingredient. Oh well, if they say so.😂