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Space & Astronomy

NASA finds 'evidence of activity' on Europa

By T.K. Randall
September 22, 2016 · Comment icon 23 comments

What has NASA found on Europa ? Image Credit: Britney Schmidt/Dead Pixel VFX
The space agency is set to hold a press conference on Monday to announce its latest Hubble findings.
There was much excitement on social media recently when NASA revealed that it was about to make an announcement about "surprising evidence of activity" on Jupiter's moon Europa - a freezing world thought to be one of the best places to look for alien life in our solar system.

While the press conference, which will be taking place on Monday, has sparked much speculation about the possible discovery of extraterrestrial life, NASA has since moved to quell such rumors by offering a statement debunking the idea that the announcement is anything to do with aliens.

Instead, the announcement is far more likely to be about the elusive plumes of water vapor first spotted on Europa by the Hubble Space Telescope four years ago.

If these turn out to be bringing water up from the sub-surface ocean below, it would mean that scientists will be able to analyze the water's chemical composition without having to drill down through the moon's thick icy shell to gain access to it.

Update: Details of NASA's announcement can be viewed - here.

Source: Independent | Comments (23)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #14 Posted by Codenwarra 8 years ago
Gives the cranks a few days to make even greater fools of themselves.  
Comment icon #15 Posted by qxcontinuum 8 years ago
on the other hand i'll be curious to find out more about who is reaching to Nasa before of the day where discoveries are announced....
Comment icon #16 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 8 years ago
See the thing with announcements of scientific discovery is that they involve scientists announcing what they have ACTUALLY  discovered... not what some random person on an internet forum wants them to discover. 
Comment icon #17 Posted by Merc14 8 years ago
incomprehensible
Comment icon #18 Posted by South Alabam 8 years ago
Well, if they have confirmed the elusive water plumes, that would probably mean volcanic activity beneath the surface, and an increased possibility of the existence of life.
Comment icon #19 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 8 years ago
It wouldn't necessarily mean volcanism, what it would mean is that there must be cracks in the ice, which means that there are places where the ice crust is relatively thin. That is significant because it means it would be easier to place a probe into the sub-surface ocean.
Comment icon #20 Posted by South Alabam 8 years ago
That makes sense.
Comment icon #21 Posted by mesuma 8 years ago
these are the days of miracle and wonder
Comment icon #22 Posted by Merc14 8 years ago
Well said and I agree 100% .  The best thing is it will only get better, very much better, in the next decade, which I think I can weather for sure.  Can't wait.  
Comment icon #23 Posted by DieChecker 8 years ago
No monolith? Sad......... 


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