Yeah, on the news here last night they just referred to it as "Saturn's moon"...

Bloody ignorant media...

Enceladus is actually one of the most reflective bodies in the Solar System, so it was a good bet even before Cassini arrived that it was extensively icy. The nice surprise was the internal activity.










(update: MRO fuel tanks pressurised to correct limits, and ready to burn)

I had spaghetti last night. Little did I know Mango was having the same thing only a few light years away.

Saturn isn't that far away! It orbits around the same sun as we do!

Hush up you!


Believe it or not, I'm a big astronomy fan. Not as knowledgable as our dear Coma here, but enough to spend $100 on this:




I can't say I even halfway understand most of the text (and not that I don't try), but the pictures are fascinating.

Always a great read, Steph.

I still have my old 1985 edition.

I'm not sure which edition mine is (it's at home and I'm not). I know I've had it a few years. Maybe 1999 or so?

Haha I was just telling someone about this when I logged on, DTB forums the place for real news.

thats damn interesting, thanks for the links too Dave

Liquid water found on Saturn's moon!

That' pretty amazing
BUT then what? It's only water not a lifeform. I mean what good is it to anyone?

Um, you can drink it?

And use it for agriculture and industry once you've completely ruined the stocks of fresh water on your own planet...?

Liquid water found on Saturn's moon!

That' pretty amazing
BUT then what? It's only water not a lifeform. I mean what good is it to anyone?

Well from everything we know about life on this planet, water is absolutely necessary to sustain life (as we know it). Liquid water itself, as far away from the sun as enceladus is, is an astonishing find. Scientists had assumed that there might have been liquid water out there somewhere, which allows for the speculation that wherever there is water so goes life (as we know it). There are many critters here on earth that subsist in totally inhospitable circumstances such as without sunlight and/or reliable sustenance as long as water is present.

Unfortunately, the scientific method only relies on an observable precedent or
well known example and not wild speculation which, consequently, is where the science fiction writers shine. So there may be life out there that we couldn't ever have imagined, but as for right know the safe scientific bet is to stick with what you know, reverse engineer it, and then apply the evidence to a theory.

Finding liquid water out there, so far away from the sun, is a small step in interplanetary knowledge, only confirming whatever speculation we may have had. It is interesting that the other planetary bodies are basically made of the same stuff as earth, and as such, subject to the same rules of matter and chemistry. that means that the primordial ooze that we sprung from has the same chance of building the proteins and membranes for other critters on other planets or in this case a moon.

Lets face it, the odds are that there is life somewhere out there, we just need to know whether it is a generally rare thing or if it is a chemical consequence of the complexities of matter. We don't know if there is simple life in the liquid oceans of Europa or Enceladus. This is just a baby step, but it is a step.

I still think it is downright selfish to think that Earth is the only rock in the entire universe which has some form of life. Our galaxy is just an insect in the entire universe of millions, if not billions of identical setups where planets circle around stars (= suns) just like the Earth does.

I still think it is downright selfish to think that Earth is the only rock in the entire universe which has some form of life. Our galaxy is just an insect in the entire universe of millions, if not billions of identical setups where planets circle around stars (= suns) just like the Earth does.

Yup. We are not that special.

Um, you can drink it?

And use it for agriculture and industry once you've completely ruined the stocks of fresh water on your own planet...?

Oh there is that much of it. BUT how did you think transport it here? And then earths mass would increase and it would spin out of its course right to sun.

OR I could just fuck off

I still think it is downright selfish to think that Earth is the only rock in the entire universe which has some form of life. Our galaxy is just an insect in the entire universe of millions, if not billions of identical setups where planets circle around stars (= suns) just like the Earth does.

Yup. We are not that special.

We're not special, but then again maybe we are.

Our setup IS somewhat special. We have a moon, maintaining tides and climate, we have water in it's three states. We "probably" had a comet inpact delivering that water etc...

Not saying that we couldn't find it elsewhere in the universe. But life on Earth is a result of blind luck in my opinion.

If you can, try watching the Discovery Channel doc "If We Had No Moon".

We're not special, but then again maybe we are.

Our setup IS somewhat special. We have a moon, maintaining tides and climate, we have water in it's three states. We "probably" had a comet inpact delivering that water etc...

Not saying that we couldn't find it elsewhere in the universe. But life on Earth is a result of blind luck in my opinion.

If you can, try watching the Discovery Channel doc "If We Had No Moon".

Dude, I saw that, and it made me a little looney* I am really glad we have a moon now. Some of the stuff on discovery is neat, but some of it is a little emotionally manipulative, like when the "documentary" ends with ".....and this could happen tomorrow."

Like the Tsunami thing I saw yesterday, ALL DAY....Must change channel!

*= Pun intended if received

i sure theres an Arthur C Clarke book that begins the story by following the crew of a kind of 'tug-boat' spaceship which was towing large quantities of ice from the other reaches of the solar system to earth.
3001-final odyssey perhaps?

the truth can be stranger than fiction!
how long until we need to source our resources from elsewhere?

plus, i dont believe that earth is the only life bearing planet but i do believe that when we find life 'out there', the creatures will not be like anything we expect.
ill be looking out for that "If We Had No Moon" documentary.

great thread btw