bad units
It should be 180.00ºC or even better would have been 93.150K, but 292 degrees below zero is just wrong when used in any technical field.
Scientists believe they have come up with a solid model for a new type of methane-based, oxygen-free life form that could thrive in the harsh, icy conditions of Saturn's mysterious freezing moon, Titan. The researchers at Cornell University reckon they have come up with "the first concrete blueprint of life not as we know it …
It's just a theory. Which means "maybe". We just don't know what is possible in those conditions because we can't accurately simulate the expanse of time and we barely know just some of the chemicals that exist on Titan. We will eventually send probes there that will give us a more detailed understanding. But, then we run into the real threat of contaminating the areas we explore. Nobody really knows what to expect. So, lets just say "maybe" and be very careful about how we explore these places. We have already left a considerable mess on the moon in our haste to get there. Do we really want to trash up every place we go?
How much of a mess has been left on the Moon as of now?
Serious question. Descent stages for six Apollos, the buggies for the later ones, Lunokhod, Ranger impact, etc. Any more?
If people are ever to visit the place as tourists, they will be among the prime sites. The vacuum will also ensure that any visitors behave a little better than, say, immigrants do in National Parks on Earth.
I agree with your sentiment, though, it does look as if all too many people can't resist treating any place as a garbage dump.
How much of a mess has been left on the Moon as of now?
Serious question. Descent stages for six Apollos, the buggies for the later ones, Lunokhod, Ranger impact, etc. Any more?
There's actually a surprising amount of stuff up there, much as I hate quoting Wikipedia they do have this list which lists some of them, although for many there are in fact several objects for each listing - random pieces of wreckage for the crash landings and assorted litter and equipment from the Apollo missions.
"How much of a mess has been left on the Moon as of now?"
Quite a lot, actually.
There's a better list list here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/12/the-trash-weve-left-on-the-moon/266465/
That includes such niceties as 96 bags of urine, feces, and vomit, empty food containers, and wet wipes, among other trash. The article even has a nice map showing Apollo 11's garbage dump.
We're a very messy species.
If we scooped it all up, it would probably all fit inside 1km2, out of a total 38 million km2 surface area. Also, lifting off with a toilet full of poop requires more reaction mass, I can't say I am surprised that they flushed before setting off ^^;
We apparently have a giant floating mass of plastics larger than Texas in the Pacific, in that context a few broken landers, lunar rovers and some bags of effluent seem pretty tame.
Mork being "all membrane" was a key plot element in one of the later, less funny episodes.
It was two of the later, less funny episodes. The storyline was a two-parter.
God, the rubbish that persists in my memory. I can still picture Robin Williams wailing "Oh, Mandy1 Mandy Mandy!". I am certain I haven't seen that since it originally aired. In 1979, according to IMDB (which also shows that it was the season opener for the second season, so "later" apparently means "after the first season" in this case).
1"Mandy" was the name of the subatomic-alternate-world Mindy clone. Obviously.
No. The plotline is Puppet Masters. If in doubt, read Heinlein, you will find what you are looking for in there.
In the last paragraph a spaceship is being launched to Titan.
In any case - the membrane is an important part of the story, but not the most important. The most important is a source of energy and something which can participate in a redox reaction to produce enough of it. There is nothing in a methane atmosphere to do that. You are more likely to find life "not as we know it" in a place with let's say hydrogen chloride (the has, not the aqueous solution) than in a pure methane environment.
No, the most important is data processing (DNA/reactions to the environment etc). With just a membrane and energy processing, you still just have a chemical process or a "dead" crystal. Be it a very complicated one though, it would not fit much of the definition of "alive".
Without something similar to DNA and without a massive number of processing, construction and regulating equipment in the cell, it would be unable to do anything.
I hear there are sirens on Titan.
Srsly, there is always the chance of life not as we know it, kudos to these people for demonstrating a workable cell membrane for cryogenic worlds.
I suspect that there is nothing more there than an interesting geology (based on water ice) and weather, but it would be lovely and very poetic if the place also hosts cryogenic life.
Personally, I would never be surprised if Jupiter, Saturn, or Sol itself were homes to life not as we know it.
I would be equally surprised if we ever have the means for detection.
Maybe after re-emergence from the approaching new dark age.
Re-emergence will take a lot of time, and most resources will be in rubbish dumps, nothing much near nor on the surface.
we all have only about 11 years to live.
One of the highlights to look forward to are carving statues of oneself out of ones own sh1t using ones teeth.
Oh, we've grounded the shuttles already? Just the statues then, not the sweet oblivion of a Chinese asteroid to the Atlantic.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, and carbon is a natural by-product of the stellar fusion process. Methane is found in interstellar clouds (apparently) so having a planetary body with a high proportion of it is easy to explain just by aggregation from the protoplanetary disc...