GoKawiil
Tech News
Researchers built a laboratory model replicating conditions in the subsurface ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus to test how microscopic organisms might fare there. The simulation examined whether microbial life could endure the moon's icy, salty environment.
MIT researchers created a laboratory solution of 98% sulfuric acid, mimicking conditions in Venus's clouds, and tested whether complex organic molecules such as peptides could remain stable in it. The peptides retained their structure, contradicting the long-held assumption that such acidity would immediately destroy complex chemistry.
Data from the Voyager, Galileo and Cassini missions, combined with modeling and observations from Hubble and Webb, has revealed that at least six moons and dwarf planets in the outer solar system—including Europa, Enceladus, Titan, Mimas and Callisto—harbor liquid water oceans beneath their icy surfaces. Even Pluto is now considered a candidate ocean world, suggesting many undiscovered Kuiper Belt objects could conceal similar hidden seas.