A new study has determined that, despite the coldness of the outer reaches of the Solar System, conditions exist that could be quite receptive to the emergence of alien life. The research, which involves the radioactive breakdown into its constituent elements, is important in that it identifies new parameters for the possible existence of life, in particular the frozen moons and dwarf planets, and it helps scientists establish probable locations to look for extraterrestrials.
As reported this week by the Daily Mail, researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio and the Southwest Research Institute put together models that tracked the process of radiolysis, which is a breakdown of water molecules by radioactive emissions from the core of planetary objects into hydrogen and oxygen. The subsequent elements are then, on their own and when combined with other molecules, able to support the existence of life in the form of microbes.
“The physical and chemical processes that follow radiolysis release molecular hydrogen,” Dr. Alexis Bouquet, lead author of the study, said, “which is a molecule of astrobiological interest.” And since the process produced oxygen compounds, Bouquet added, “Radiolysis in an ocean world’s outer core could be fundamental in supporting life.
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