Earlier quoted context omitted.
No need to dig, you just melt yourself downwards. It's not exactly like digging through rocks on Earth.
Of course, barring collapse, the rocks won’t reform right above you as you go.
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NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
41–50 of 278 posts
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
For comparison, the furthest we've dug down is about 8 miles, and Europa's ice crust is estimated to be 10-15 miles. So, yeah that would be like us getting discovered by mole people from nearly twice the depth we're capable of reaching. It's fun to think about what a civilization on Europa would think about their world. You can go up, but it gets colder and the pressure gets lower. It'd be like trying to go to space,…
No need to dig, you just melt yourself downwards. It's not exactly like digging through rocks on Earth.
Would liquid pool up as you melt the ice? I guess you'd need to pump it out. Is that even possible at that depth? The liquid might boil on the way up.
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's less clear than I'd expected. Is that image deliberately downscaled so as to not reveal the true capabilities of the telescope optics?
No, they're quite open about the capabilities of the optics (see https://webb.nasa.gov/content/forScientists/faqScientists.ht... ). It's just that Europa is very far away. Webb's mirror system has an angular resolution of about 0.1 arcseconds. Earth is currently about 630 million km from Europa (Webb is only 1.5 million km away from earth). Because the sine of theta is approximately equal to theta for values of theta…
This reply is why I love the audience on HN. Thank you for your detailed comment.
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#44This is obviously a ginormous leap from this announcement and just a tangent sparked by it. The possibility of intelligent life developing on a world like Europa encrusted with what is effectively a miles think solid atmosphere has always been one of my favorite feasible sci-fi hypotheticals. Could you imagine how that would impact their culture? Would they even know there is anything on the other side of the ice? Th…
Have you seen the movie Europa Report ^^ ?
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#45This is obviously a ginormous leap from this announcement and just a tangent sparked by it. The possibility of intelligent life developing on a world like Europa encrusted with what is effectively a miles think solid atmosphere has always been one of my favorite feasible sci-fi hypotheticals. Could you imagine how that would impact their culture? Would they even know there is anything on the other side of the ice? Th…
For comparison, the furthest we've dug down is about 8 miles, and Europa's ice crust is estimated to be 10-15 miles. So, yeah that would be like us getting discovered by mole people from nearly twice the depth we're capable of reaching. It's fun to think about what a civilization on Europa would think about their world. You can go up, but it gets colder and the pressure gets lower. It'd be like trying to go to space,…
What's the pressure like at that depth? That seems like it would have some implications to be dealt with
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#46Europa is definitely the most exciting part of the solar system that sparks imagination. Literally 100s of miles of pitch black ocean with thermal vents, ripe for life. Getting kiddy thinking about the leviathan sized aliens roaming the deep ocean of Europa. Does anyone else feel this way?
Could you have leviathan sized animals with no phytoplankton? Seems like thermal vents would provide a lot less energy than the Sun, but I’m really out of my depth.
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#47An aside, but hovering over the image only to have it obscured... and then smaller on click, is a little comical.
I'm glad you posted this - I went back just to see this and gave an audible laugh. More than a little comical!
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#48Is the significance of CO2's presence 1) it's necessary ingredient for (our) life, 2) it's a likely biproduct of life, or both?
The first one. It can be produced through non-biological processes and is fairly stable, but is also necessary for "life as we know it".
Gaseous oxygen would be 2 - it's highly reactive, so if you detect it in an atmosphere, it means there must be some kind of activity going on that replenishes it. On Earth, it's what life does.
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#49This is obviously a ginormous leap from this announcement and just a tangent sparked by it. The possibility of intelligent life developing on a world like Europa encrusted with what is effectively a miles think solid atmosphere has always been one of my favorite feasible sci-fi hypotheticals. Could you imagine how that would impact their culture? Would they even know there is anything on the other side of the ice? Th…
For comparison, the furthest we've dug down is about 8 miles, and Europa's ice crust is estimated to be 10-15 miles. So, yeah that would be like us getting discovered by mole people from nearly twice the depth we're capable of reaching. It's fun to think about what a civilization on Europa would think about their world. You can go up, but it gets colder and the pressure gets lower. It'd be like trying to go to space,…
Oh this reminds me of Cixin Liu's (of the Three Body Problem fame) short scifi Mountain.
It describes an alien species that lives in the mantle of a planet. Their explorer finally dug through to the crust, when they were met with never before seen liquid water that instantly kills them as well as their (non water proof) equipments.
Fascinating short story.
Re: NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa
#50Europa is definitely the most exciting part of the solar system that sparks imagination. Literally 100s of miles of pitch black ocean with thermal vents, ripe for life. Getting kiddy thinking about the leviathan sized aliens roaming the deep ocean of Europa. Does anyone else feel this way?
Europa Report (movie): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avzqYgtpdMQ I enjoyed it ^^