NASA Researchers have discovered hydrogen gas emitting in plumes from the surface of Saturn's moon, Enceladus. Why does that matter? For us earthlings, hydrogen serves as a food source for microbes, which sets the base for our complex ecosystem. In short, there's a supply list essential to sustaining life, and Saturn's racking them up.
Though researchers want to make sure the emphasize they did not find evidence of life itself on Saturn's moon, the hydrogen gas they did find spurting Enceladus's surface is pretty significant.
With the new discovery, Saturn has nearly every item on the list of supplies essential to life, says Hunter Waite of the Southwestern Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. “Water’s there – check. Organics are in the plume – check. Now we have a chemical source of energy for food – check,” Waite said.
- Sulfur and phosphorus — two chemicals essential to living organisms — have not been confirmed on planet Saturn. Regardless of that, Waite claims “Enceladus is rising to the top of habitable places that exist in the solar system.”
Source: USA Today