Saturn's moon Titan could harbor life, but only a tiny amount

Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is a strange, alien world. Covered in rivers and lakes of liquid methane, icy boulders and dunes of soot-like "sand," its topography has long fascinated scientists and invited speculation on whether lifeforms might lurk beneath the moon's thick, hazy atmosphere. An international team of researchers co-led by Antonin Affholder at the U of A Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Peter Higgins at Harvard University's Department of Earth and Planetary sciences set out to develop a realistic scenario of what life on Titan might look like if it does exist, where it is most likely to occur and how much of it might be present. "In our study, we focus on what makes Titan unique when compared to other icy moons: its plentiful organic content," said Affholder, who is a postdoctoral research associate. Image This composite image shows an infrared view of Titan from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, acquired during a high-altitude fly-by, 6,200 miles above the ... Read full article.