The news that Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus has geysers shooting out liquid water is exciting.
Scientists say the water and volcanic heat means the conditions are right for life. (Life being a microbe, nothing Spock-like.) So researchers want to redirect space exploration to focus on Saturn. That’s fine. Saturn is the coolest planet after Earth, after all. But a microbe is a microbe. Which brings us back to Earth. The same week that the Saturn news was announced, these nuggets were also reported:
* Divers discovered a new crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a lobster but is covered with blond fur. Scientists said the creature, which they named Kiwa hirsuta, was so distinct from other species that they created a new family and genus for it. The furry shellfish is white, 6 inches long and blind.
* Scientists who thought they had found a new species of rodent in Laos discovered that it wasn’t new at all, but rather a mammal thought extinct for 11 million years. The kha-nyou is modern member of an ancient rodent family. The rodent didn’t rise from the dead, but the gap in fossil records means scientists can’t yet explain what happened between 11 million years ago and now.
n Arctic animals are struggling to survive the changing climate in the Bering Sea, where their feeding grounds are disrupted by warmer temperatures and melting ice.
The possibility of microbes on Saturn’s moons is exciting, but let’s keep in mind that there’s no place like home for fascinating – and disappearing – life, of which there is still so much to learn.
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