Could comets have sparked life on Europa?

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If alien life swims in the ocean beneath Europa's icy surface, it might have got its start from comets cracking the icy shell to deliver vital pre-life ingredients, say researchers.

New simulations show that a specific family of comets have the mass, velocity and opportunity to do the job -- penetrating the full range of likely Europan ice thicknesses.

“It's one of the best candidates for an ecosystem,” said Rónadh Cox of Williams College, Mass., regarding Europa's ocean. “But how do you get biological precursers into the ocean?”

http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets/did-comets-spark-alien-life-in-europas-oceans-151014.htm