In a simulation, a Titan-like atmosphere produces nearly all of life's building blocks
Titan Atmosphere Chamber Energized by microwaves, the Titanic gas mix inside the reaction chamber lights up like a neon sign. Thousands of complex organic molecules accumulated on the bottom of the chamber during this experiment, suggesting Titan's atmosphere is capable of producing the precursors for life. Sarah Hörst/University of ArizonaScientists studying Titan’s atmosphere have learned it can create complex molecules, including amino acids and nucleotide bases, often called the building blocks of life. They are the first researchers to show it’s possible to create these molecules without water, suggesting Titan could harbor huge quantities of life’s precursors floating in its atmosphere. It’s a breakthrough that even has implications for the beginning of life on Earth.
Researchers at the University of Arizona built a simulated Titan atmosphere in a special chamber in Paris and blasted it with microwaves, simulating the effect of solar energy. The reactions produced aerosols, which sank to the bottom of the chamber, where scientists scooped them up for study. What they found was unexpected, to put it mildly: all the nucleotide bases that make up the genetic code of all life on Earth, and more than half of the 22 amino acids that make proteins.
Of course, this doesn’t prove Titan has life — this was a test chamber, not the actual moon’s atmosphere, for one thing — but it’s intriguing, at least.
“Our results show that it is possible to make very complex molecules in the outer parts of an atmosphere," said Sarah Hörst, a graduate student in the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Lab, in a UA News story. She led the research effort with her adviser, planetary science professor Roger Yelle.
Titan is one of the most promising places for life elsewhere in the solar system. It has huge methane lakes and scientists recently learned that hydrogen is disappearing faster than it should at the surface, suggesting some sort of chemical reaction is consuming it.
The best data about Titan’s characteristics has come from the spacecraft Cassini, which has tasted some of the moon’s outermost atmosphere in a series of flybys since 2004. But Cassini was not designed to dip below 560 miles above the surface, much too far to really get a sense of what the moon’s atmosphere contains.Related Articles
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Science, Rebecca Boyle, astrobiology, atmosphere, Cassini, extraterrestrial life, methane, ringed planet saturn, Saturn, smog, titanTo truly test its capabilities, researchers would have to recreate the atmosphere in a lab, mixing the gases found on TItan and subjecting them to radiation. The microwaves caused a gas discharge, the same process that makes neon signs glow, which caused some of the nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide to bond together into solid matter. These aerosols were levitated in a special chamber before they got heavy enough to fall down.
The prospect of small floating life forms in the Titanic atmosphere is intriguing enough, but the study also revealed some interesting possibilities about the genesis of life on Earth. Titan’s atmosphere might be chemically similar to that of the early Earth, suggesting that instead of emerging from a primordial soup, the building blocks of life might have rained down from on high.
Hörst said the most interesting aspect of the study was proof that you can make pretty much anything in an atmosphere — a finding with major implications for astrobiology.
"Who knows this kind of chemistry isn’t happening on planets outside our solar system?” she said.
Smog on Titan Moon May Hold Ingredients For Life, New Study Says
Friday, October 8, 2010
Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded For Graphene, the Material of the Future
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics today to University of Manchester professors Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov for their work isolating graphene from graphite and identifying its behavior. Graphene, a one-atom thick sheet of carbon, is the thinnest, strongest material ever discovered. It conducts heat and electricity, and despite being one atom thick, is so dense even helium cannot pass through it. As the Swedish Academy of Sciences said in the Nobel Prize announcement: "Carbon, the basis of all known life on earth, has surprised us once again."
See our gallery of graphene's greatest hits.Surprisingly, the isolation was the easy part – they peeled the graphene off of a graphite crystal using Scotch tape. However, their work from that moment on has already had a huge effect on materials science.
Here at PopSci, we’ve been tracking graphene’s developments closely (and not just so we can say “we knew it when”). As it proves itself useful in everything from bandages to faster-than-ever transistors, we can’t help but wonder if its talents will ever stop emerging. We’ve compiled a gallery of graphene’s greatest hits so far so you can revisit its humble beginnings before the Nobel Prize goes to its head.
[CNET]
This Year's Ig Nobel Prize: Fruit Bat Fellatio, Whale Snot, and More Weird Science
Friday, October 1, 2010
The Ig Nobel Prize studies are not a joke, but that's not to say you won't laugh.
Ig Nobel Prize Creative Commons: Jeff DlouhyIf the MacArthur "Genius" Grants announced earlier this week were too staid for you, the Ig Nobel Prize (now in its 20th year--here's last year's coverage) might be the scientific awards presentation for you. The Ig Nobels aren't a joke; every winning study has a legitimate scientific purpose and execution, making real discoveries and solving real problems. But they're also all chosen for their ability to "make you laugh and then make you think." This year's winners include remote-controlled whale snot retrieval, the benefits of roller coaster riding on asthma sufferers, and our own personal favorite which you may remember: transit planning by slime mold
Ten Ig Nobel awards were handed out in categories including public health, biology, transportation planning, medicine, and physics. The prize for transportation planning went to one of our favorite studies of the year: Slime mold mapping. In this study, a map of the United States is created out of agar gel, with nutrients for mold placed throughout the map. The concentration of nutrients depends on the population in that area, so big cities get lots of nutrients, and open land gets little. The mold is then started in the "New York" area of the map, and ventures outward in the most direct path to other nutrients, forming a peculiarly organic method of transit planning. Here's our exclusive video on the slime mold map:
Other highlights include the Engineering Prize, awarded for outstanding achievement in the field of whale snot removal. The "novel non-invasive tool" mentioned in the title of that study just happens to be a remote-controlled helicopter. The Medicine Prize was awarded for a study showing that symptoms of asthma can be treated with "positive emotional stress," in this case a roller-coaster ride. The Biology Prize was awarded for the official scientific documentation of fellatio in fruit bats. The title of that study? "Fellatio by Fruit Bats Prolongs Copulation Time." Does it ever!
Perhaps my favorite study is the winner of the cheekily named Peace Prize, some experimental research indicating that swearing reduces pain. The researchers aren't sure of the precise biological reason for the finding, but it seems that swearing, unlike the use of other language, activates the amygdala's fight-or-flight instinct, triggering a rise in heart rate and a reduced sensitivity to pain. From an evolutionary standpoint, it's suggested that swearing is a slightly more conscious version of a defensive outburst--a sort of controlled or channeled shriek--that's compared to a car's horn.
You can check out the rest of the winners at the Ig Nobel site.
