Proof for a young universe and for blindness of evolutionists
Dan Backlund
Did you hear about the new information from Titan (Saturn's moon)? The
evolutionists have a problem because of the existance of methane there!
Read and enjoy God's creation,
Dan Backlund
Here is the link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4196261.stm
Here the text version:
Search for life signal on Titan
Scientists will comb data sent back from Titan by the Huygens probe for the
chemical signature of life in a bid to identify the moon's source of
methane.
Methane is constantly destroyed by UV light so there must be a source within
Titan to replenish the atmosphere.
Life is a possible - though some think unlikely - source of this hydrocarbon
along with geological processes.
The surface is too cold for biology, but microbes could survive in an ocean
within Titan, a senior scientist says.
Methane can also be released from a trapped form called clathrate and
produced by a geological process called "serpentinisation". Neither of these
involve biology.
Dominated by nitrogen, methane and other organic (carbon-based) molecules,
Titan is thought to resemble a deep-frozen version of Earth 4.6 billion
years ago.
Liquid methane rains down on Titan into river channels carved between hills
of water ice. Reservoirs of this hydrocarbon probably lie on or just below
the surface.
But UV light would destroy all the methane on Titan within 10 million years
if it were not being constantly renewed.
We have liquid water, organics not so far away; we have everything on
Titan to make life
Francois Raulin, University of Paris
"We cannot say there is absolutely no chance for life," Dr Francois Raulin,
one of three interdisciplinary scientists on the Huygens mission told the
BBC News website.
"There is no chance for life on the surface because it is too cold and there
is no liquid water.
"However, models of Titan's interior show there should be an ocean about
100km deep at around 300km below the surface."
If the models are correct, this ocean would be composed mostly of liquid
water with about 15% ammonia at a temperature of about -80C, said Dr Raulin.
"We have liquid water, organics not so far away; we have everything on Titan
to make life," he explained.
Work in progress
If methane-producing microbes had colonised this habitable zone, scientists
might detect its chemical signature by looking at the relationship of two
forms (or isotopes) of the element carbon - C12 and C13.
Living cells preferentially incorporate C12. So compounds produced by living
things should be depleted of "heavier" isotopes such as C13; they are said
to have a high C12/C13 ratio.
Scientists should be able to measure this ratio in data sent back by the Gas
Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GCMS) instrument on Huygens.
"The GCMS can directly detect the C12/C13 carbon ratio. We haven't done that
yet, but we're working on it," said Sushil Atreya, a professor of planetary
science at the University of Michigan, US, and a GCMS team member.
"It's one factor we can take into account to figure out how methane is
getting replenished."
However, Professor Atreya favours the geological process of serpentinisation
as a more likely source of the Saturnian moon's methane.
In serpentinisation, geothermal activity generates methane through the
oxidation of metals such as iron, chromium and magnesium which could be
contained in crustal rocks below Titan's surface.
Another possibility is that methane molecules are trapped in a water-ice
matrix called clathrate (or methane hydrate).
Dr Raulin also considers these geological processes as viable sources of
methane on Titan.
On 14 January, the spacecraft plunged through the moon's atmosphere, sending
scientific data - including stunning images - back to ground controllers.
It landed on Titan at around 1138 GMT at a leisurely speed of around 5m/s
and transmitted a signal until at least 1555 GMT.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/4196261.stm
Published: 2005/01/25 09:57:13 GMT
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