On Titan found a candidate for cellular membranes
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array radio telescopes and the Cassini probe previously helped NASA researchers find a substance in the atmosphere of the Saturn satellite that could indicate the life of microorganisms in Titan’s methane oceans. NASA's Astrobiology Magazine published details, and the media smashed this information under the heading "Scientists Found Life on Titan."
Titanium in ultraviolet and infrared rays. Source: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute
The presence of signs of vinyl cyanide more than ten years ago became known thanks to the Cassini spacecraft . In July 2017, NASA confirmed this assumption based on data from the Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope network. Researcher Maureen Palmer (Maureen Yukiko Palmer) from the Goddard Center for Space Flight discovered vinyl cyanide at an altitude of 200 kilometers from the Titan's surface. The highest content found in the area of the South Pole satellite.
On Earth, cell membranes are composed of phospholipids containing fatty acids. phosphoric acid and an additional group of atoms, in many cases containing nitrogen. If there really is life on Titan, then it should have an alternative structure of cell membranes. One of the possible alternatives to phospholipids may be vinyl cyanide.
On Earth, it is used for the production of plastics, and on Titan it, according to some researchers, can form structures similar to cell membranes - durable and flexible. According to researchers, there is enough vinyl cyanide in the northern lake of Titan Lygia Mare to form 10 million cells per cubic centimeter - about 10 times more than bacteria on the shores of the oceans on Earth. Maureen Palmer notes that Titan is “an interesting chemical laboratory for studying the limits of possible biochemistry for creating life.”
In 2025, NASA could provide a Dragonfly probe to Titan , if he won the opponent’s technological competition, a project to send a probe to the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. A probe on a nuclear power plant will explore the seas of liquid methane and, perhaps, bring us closer to answering the question of whether there is life on Titan.
Although there is no direct evidence of life on Titan, a number of media outlets mention this as a sign of the existence of life on Saturn’s moon.
The presence of signs of vinyl cyanide more than ten years ago became known thanks to the Cassini spacecraft . In July 2017, NASA confirmed this assumption based on data from the Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope network. Researcher Maureen Palmer (Maureen Yukiko Palmer) from the Goddard Center for Space Flight discovered vinyl cyanide at an altitude of 200 kilometers from the Titan's surface. The highest content found in the area of the South Pole satellite.
On Earth, cell membranes are composed of phospholipids containing fatty acids. phosphoric acid and an additional group of atoms, in many cases containing nitrogen. If there really is life on Titan, then it should have an alternative structure of cell membranes. One of the possible alternatives to phospholipids may be vinyl cyanide.
On Earth, it is used for the production of plastics, and on Titan it, according to some researchers, can form structures similar to cell membranes - durable and flexible. According to researchers, there is enough vinyl cyanide in the northern lake of Titan Lygia Mare to form 10 million cells per cubic centimeter - about 10 times more than bacteria on the shores of the oceans on Earth. Maureen Palmer notes that Titan is “an interesting chemical laboratory for studying the limits of possible biochemistry for creating life.”
In 2025, NASA could provide a Dragonfly probe to Titan , if he won the opponent’s technological competition, a project to send a probe to the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. A probe on a nuclear power plant will explore the seas of liquid methane and, perhaps, bring us closer to answering the question of whether there is life on Titan.
Although there is no direct evidence of life on Titan, a number of media outlets mention this as a sign of the existence of life on Saturn’s moon.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/410111/