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  1. Does Titan's Hydrocarbon Soup Hold a Recipe for Life?

    Research Highlights
    March 02, 2018 / Written by: Lisa Kaspin-Powell
    This image shows Titan in ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths. Red and green colors indicate where atmospheric methane is absorbing light, while the blue color shows the upper atmospheric haze. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute Image credit: None
    This image shows Titan in ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths. Red and green colors indicate where atmospheric methane is absorbing light, while the blue color shows the upper atmospheric haze. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

    NASA researchers have confirmed the existence in Titan’s atmosphere of vinyl cyanide, which is an organic compound that could potentially provide the cellular membranes for microbial life to form in Titan’s vast methane oceans. If true, it could prove to us that life can flourish without the ubiquitous HO.

    The full story is available at Astrobiology Magazine.

    ____

    The Goddard Center for Astrobiology’s research paper, “ALMA detection and astrobiological potential of vinyl cyanide on Titan” is published in Science Advances.

    Source: [Astrobiology Magazine (astrobio.net)]

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