A recent study published by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) concludes that the conditions required for life and the byproducts one would expect from such life can all be found on one of Saturn's moons. This, along with other studies, further demonstrate that it is entirely possible that life exists outside of our own planet and may even be within our own solar system.

Considering the copious amount of movies, books, and other media devoted to humans on earth either discovering or being discovered by some manner of extraterrestrial life, it is somewhat strange to consider that we may actually find some, at a cosmic level, on our very own doorstep. Though what NASA predicts may be on Saturn’s moon Enceladus is far from the little green men of fiction.

The most recent experiment didn’t even involve any actual samples from the moon itself, simply seeking to see if it was possible for bacteria similar to those found on earth could survive the environment on Enceladus. Enceladus is, as far as we can tell, covered in a vast ocean covered by several hundred feet of ice that occasionally crack and spew out massive guisers into space.

Scientists subjected deep-sea bacteria to conditions similar to those found on Saturn’s moon and noted the reaction. As far as researchers could tell, the bacteria were completely unaffected and did exactly what they do on earth and converted hydrogen and CO2 and converted them into methane. All three of these components are found in the aforementioned guisers that shoot out of the ice sheets that cover Enceladus.

As for a source of energy, another key component in determining if life is possible, it is clear that the sun would not work on Saturn’s moon as it does for us here on Earth. This is both because far less heat from our resident energy source would reach as far out from the sun as it does here but also because neither heat nor light would be able to penetrate the aforementioned thick covering of ice covering the oceans.

But, incidentally, heat and light from the sun are equally unable to penetrate deep enough into our oceans on Earth to reach the bacteria used in the experiment. For this reason, scientists conclude that the same source of energy used by the bacteria used in the experiment may be the energy source used by the bacteria potentially living on Enceladus. That energy source being volcanic vents on the seafloor.

This, of course, does not definitively prove that life does exist on this or any of Saturn's other moons, some of which such as Titan share the same conditions. It is reasoned that natural processes could easily have caused the exact same conditions that spurred this particular study into action. It is for this reason that NASA intends to send a probe to Saturn specifically to combe its moons for evidence of life... Many are optimistic that we may have proof of life outside of earth within the next few years