Skip to main content

No water needed: Methane-based life possible on Saturn’s moon Titan, study says

Researchers from the Cornell University have developed a methane-based, oxygen-free life form that theoretically may exist in the cold and harsh environment of the planet Saturn’s giant moon Titan, defying the idea that water is necessary for life.
Scientists modeled the cell membrane of small organic nitrogen compounds, and it can function in extremely cold liquid methane temperatures: Titan has seas of liquid methane of almost 300 degrees below zero.
The cell is made of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen molecules: they exist in the Titan seas, but simultaneously demonstrate flexibility and stability of the liposome on Earth, according to a studypublished in Science Advances journal.
The cell was called "azotosome" where “azote” stands for nitrogen in French, while “soma” is “body” in Greek.
Read more‘Despeckle it!’ NASA gets clearest views of Titan yet (PHOTOS)

"Using molecular simulations, we demonstrate that these membranes in cryogenic solvent have an elasticity equal to that of lipid bilayers in water at room temperature," said James Stevenson, co-author of the research from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University.
"As a proof of concept, we also demonstrate that stable cryogenic membranes could arise from compounds observed in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon, Titan, known for the existence of seas of liquid methane on its surface," Stevenson said.
On Earth, life is based on the phospholipid bilayer membrane. Being a water-based vesicle, it holds organic matter of a cell. A vesicle made from this type of membrane is called a liposome, “a lipid body.”
One of the leading scientists who participated in the study, Paulette Clancy, told Science Times that they had “the right tools” to make it work.
“We didn't come in with any preconceptions about what should be in a membrane and what shouldn't. We just worked with the compounds that we knew were there and asked, 'If this was your palette, what can you make out of that," Clancy said.
The researchers’ next move would be to attempt to show the cells’ behavior in a methane, oxygen-free environment, and to see what processes would be equivalent to metabolism and reproduction.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Qualcomm teases Snapdragon 820 while launching Sense ID fingerprint scanner

Qualcomm has announced a new fingerprint scanner destined for smartphones, called Sense ID , which uses ultrasonic sound waves to map the surface of your finger. Previous methods of fingerprint recognition used high-resolution capacitive sensors, but switching to ultrasonic sensors has a number of benefits. Firstly, these types of sensors are more accurate than their capacitive counterparts, as they're able to recognize the pores and ridges on your finger for increased security. They're also not as susceptible to moisture as previous sensors, and can work through glass, sapphire, plastic and even metal. Sense ID sensors will be compatible initially with Snapdragon 810 and 425 SoCs, although you'll eventually see them supported across the entire range of Snapdragon 400, 600 and 800 series SoCs.  As well as launching Sense ID, Qualcomm has teased their upcoming flagship SoC,  the Snapdragon 820 . Qualcomm has designed their own 64-bit capable ARMv8 cores for this SoC...
Post a Comment
Read more

RPT - INSIGHT-Near Fed majority backs June liftoff Yellen hasn't yet endorsed

(Repeats for additional subscribers) By Howard Schneider (Reuters) - Janet Yellen's premium on consensus may lead to a Federal Reserve decision the chair hasn't yet endorsed, as a near majority aligns in favor of a possible June interest rate hike. Seven of the Fed's current 17 members have now said they at least want the option of a June tightening on the table, or have pushed in general for an earlier increase amid an expectation that wages and inflation will turn higher. By contrast, there's a dwindling core of officials who say publicly that the  economy  and labor markets in particular still have a long way to go -- only four Fed members have in recent weeks clearly said that rate hikes won't be appropriate until much later in the year or even into 2016. The five members of the Fed's Washington-based board of governors, including Yellen, have spoken less definitively, though governors including Jerome Powell have said they expected strong job gro...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Bachelor Women Tell All Special

I've been waiting on the Women Tell All Special since episode two. The personalities this season have been phenomenal. Obviously, I was most excited to watch Kelsey use big words to back track on her assertion that her husband's death was an amazing story, and for Carly and Britt to get awkward. It all happened, and it was great. I think the best thing about this episode was the screen shots, so I'll include those. 1. Chris starts asking the girls questions, and Jillian jumps in to scream at Carly that Britt is the most genuine person she knows. Why can't we get a black box over Jillian's mouth? Samantha and Trina decide to speak finally, better late than never, and both are actually quite sassy. 2. I'll say something nice first, it looks like Britt showered for this. Britt has mastered the art of a crying face, without water actually coming out of her eyes. Crying makes me uncomfortable, ergo Britt makes me uncomfortable. She's mostly concerned about...
Post a Comment
Read more