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San Francisco, 4:45 AM
Sat Nov 21
26 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #jupiter more →

    Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish

    Jupiter's Moon Could Sustain Animal-Like Life

    Behold The Fresh Wound On Jupiter's Surface

    What's The Cause Of Jupiter’s Newest Spot?

    Scientists Play "Jurassic Park," Coax Ancient Glacial Bacteria Back To Life

    Andromeda's Lovely Shimmer, Plus A Lunar Makeover

    Jupiter Discovered To Be Moon-Eater

    The Moon's A Balloon

    Jupiter Could Be Out to Get Us

    Just In Case You Didn't Realize How Big Jupiter Was...
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Chip Skylark of Space Chip Skylark of Space
    11/19/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish

    Ice fishing on Europa? I know who I'd pick for my crew. Too bad two out of three are dead- I'll still go with the third.
     Reply
    Chip Skylark of Space was starred Chip Skylark of Space was unstarred
    Image of Chip Skylark of Space Chip Skylark of Space
    11/19/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish

    Sounds like the Monster Fish show needs to pack up now and prepare for a series of shows from Europa. More fun then a Mekong Catfish!!
     Reply
    Chip Skylark of Space was starred Chip Skylark of Space was unstarred
    Image of Post-Nuked Post-Nuked
    11/19/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish
    When our own moon became a threat to freedom, we acted. Now is the time! Preemptive Strike! Bomb Europa before our children end up speaking Jovian fish talk.
     Reply
    Post-Nuked was starred Post-Nuked was unstarred
    Image of SJ_Edwards SJ_Edwards
    11/19/09


    @Post-Nuked:
    "What do we not want?" - "Prawns."
    "When do we not want them?" - "Not in the immediate future, but depending on GDP growth and the current projected budgetary deficit over the next 400 fiscal quarters ........ Never!"
     Reply
    SJ_Edwards was starred SJ_Edwards was unstarred
    Image of Post-Nuked Post-Nuked
    11/19/09

    @SJ_Edwards:
    Earth for mammals!
     Reply
    Post-Nuked was starred Post-Nuked was unstarred
    Image of TheGreenRanger TheGreenRanger
    11/18/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish
    why isn't this on the news. next thing ya know we'll be popping through wormholes and frilling other species.
     Reply
    TheGreenRanger was starred TheGreenRanger was unstarred
    Image of Obama takes time to read kotaku's comments... Obama takes time to read kotaku's comments...
    11/18/09

    @TheGreenRanger: I still want to frill claudia black...
     Reply
    TheGreenRanger promoted this comment Obama takes time to read kotaku's comments... was starred Obama takes time to read kotaku's comments... was unstarred
    Image of TheGreenRanger TheGreenRanger
    11/19/09

    @Obama takes time to read kotaku's comments...: i always had a thing for chiana myself

    #calendar
     Reply
    TheGreenRanger was starred TheGreenRanger was unstarred
    Image of Jrsy Devil's Advocate® Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
    11/18/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish
    Isn't Europa supposed to be off limits starting next year??

    "ALL THESE WORLDS
    ARE YOURS EXCEPT
    EUROPA
    ATTEMPT NO
    LANDING THERE
    USE THEM TOGETHER
    USE THEM IN PEACE    "
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was starred Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was unstarred
    Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon
    11/18/09

    @Jrsy Devil's Advocate®: so we have a month before our fishing license runs out?
     Reply
    LittleDragon was starred LittleDragon was unstarred
    Image of Matthew Weflen Matthew Weflen
    11/18/09

    @Jrsy Devil's Advocate®: That is such an underappreciated movie. Sure, it's not as good as 2001. Sure, it's quite literal in comparison. But that doesn't change the fact that it's a well made, tight, 1980s sci-fi thriller.
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® promoted this comment Matthew Weflen was starred Matthew Weflen was unstarred
    Image of Jrsy Devil's Advocate® Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
    11/18/09

    @LittleDragon: I don't think we can get there that fast....
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was starred Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was unstarred
    Image of Dirk Anger Dirk Anger
    11/18/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish
    Dear Mr. NASA President

    Who knows what kind of diseases, or weapon systems with which to annihilate us those damn alien fish may count. I say, just to be sure, you should nuke the site from orbit.

    Yours truly
    Michael Bay.
     Reply
    Dirk Anger was starred Dirk Anger was unstarred
    Image of Bootknife-Jackson Bootknife-Jackson
    11/18/09

    @Dirk Anger: should read: "...so just to be sure, you should send me and a rag tag group of oil drillers to Europa to drill 800 feet below the surface, and plant a nuke! don't worry, we'll have Steve Buscemi with us.

    xoxo
    -Michael Bay

    PS: but no Ben Affleck. i swear!
     Reply
    Edited by Bootknife-Jackson at 11/18/09 9:04 PM Bootknife-Jackson was starred Bootknife-Jackson was unstarred
    Image of SJ_Edwards SJ_Edwards
    11/19/09

    @Bootknife-Jackson:
    No Liv 'Fishlips' Tyler, No Mission!
     Reply
    Edited by SJ_Edwards at 11/19/09 12:38 AM SJ_Edwards was starred SJ_Edwards was unstarred
    Image of Dirk Anger Dirk Anger
    11/19/09

    @Bootknife-Jackson: Drilling water may prove hard, but I have a ship made of unobtainium, which turns water into solid and then drills it by turning it into liquid. What could go wrong?

    #calendar
     Reply
    Dirk Anger was starred Dirk Anger was unstarred
    Image of Bootknife-Jackson Bootknife-Jackson
    11/19/09

    @Dirk Anger: and michael bay has a plot devise (in the form of an explosion) that fixs ALL our plot hole worries!

    #calendar
     Reply
    Bootknife-Jackson was starred Bootknife-Jackson was unstarred
    Image of Anekanta - former space marine Anekanta - former space marine
    11/18/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish
    I remember seeing something about how this basically happened on Earth as well, during a kind of super ice-age. The solar wind hit the water ice on the surface, which liberated a whole lot of oxygen, which led to a massive explosion in the complexity of life on Earth once the ice melted.
    Before that, life was limited to very simple organisms.
     Reply
    Anekanta - former space marine was starred Anekanta - former space marine was unstarred
    Image of BadUncle BadUncle
    11/18/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish
    So these "fish" - kosher or traif?
     Reply
    BadUncle was starred BadUncle was unstarred
    Image of gorehound gorehound
    11/18/09

    @BadUncle: i am jewish and i would think these would be kosher fish.they might even be good to make gefilte fish with.who knows what the future might bring........
     Reply
    gorehound was starred gorehound was unstarred
    Image of MargaretMoony MargaretMoony
    11/18/09

    @gorehound: I always learned if it wiggles sideways- kosher! If it wiggles up and down- bad! It's a better explanation if you can do the hand movements. And are six.
     Reply
    MargaretMoony was starred MargaretMoony was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    11/19/09

    @gorehound: Bagel and Europa lox!
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of PostMarque PostMarque
    11/18/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish
    I hear the Stranglethorn Fishing Tournament is being hosted there next. However, Gadgetzan is not supporting it with funding.

    your belf is not pleased
     Reply
    Edited by PostMarque at 11/18/09 1:50 PM PostMarque was starred PostMarque was unstarred
    Image of twophrasebark twophrasebark
    11/18/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish
    Europa is very far away. At the speed of light, it takes an hour to send a message there and an hour to receive a message back.

    Forget any kind of Mars Rover type deal.
     Reply
    twophrasebark was starred twophrasebark was unstarred
    Image of AngryEddy AngryEddy
    11/18/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish
    So there could be fish, but maybe not? Let's send some salmon there and populate those seas, just in case. By the time we manage to build a colony there, we should have plenty of fish to create some rather delicious cedar plank filets for the people to enjoy...

    There will be McDonalds for those that do not like salmon filets.
     Reply
    AngryEddy was starred AngryEddy was unstarred
    Image of sicboi sicboi
    11/18/09

    @AngryEddy: you realize that aside from talking dolphins from StarTide Rising, talking Salmon that might eventuate might be a bit more annoying?
     Reply
    Shini: R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment sicboi was starred sicboi was unstarred
    Image of Shini: R.O.A.C.H. Shini: R.O.A.C.H.
    11/18/09

    @sicboi: Sammy the salmon seemed pretty reasonable.
     Reply
    Shini: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Shini: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of Chuck Chuck
    11/18/09

    @Shini: R.O.A.C.H.: Yes, but remember the dark lesson that is "Billy the Bigmouth Bass"
     Reply
    Chuck was starred Chuck was unstarred
    Image of Shini: R.O.A.C.H. Shini: R.O.A.C.H.
    11/18/09

    @Chuck: Very true, but Billy never hung out with the Chemical Brothers. I suppose there should be some kind of talking fish panel to determine which fish would be beneficial to have voice, or at least consistently entertaining.
     Reply
    Shini: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Shini: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of J_Frank_Parnell J_Frank_Parnell
    11/18/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish
    Should make the next season of Deadliest Catch a little more interesting...
     Reply
    J_Frank_Parnell was starred J_Frank_Parnell was unstarred
    Image of AngryEddy AngryEddy
    11/18/09

    @J_Frank_Parnell: Captain Sig on the high seas of Europa? I say yes.
     Reply
    AngryEddy was starred AngryEddy was unstarred
    Image of goldfarb goldfarb
    11/18/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish
    Carl Sagan is not happy:
    [www.youtube.com]
     Reply
    goldfarb was starred goldfarb was unstarred
    Image of Roklimber Roklimber
    11/18/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish
    "So how does the oxygen get into the water? It's created when charged particles from Jupiter's magnetic field hit the ice."

    Annalee, please allow me to suggest a correction. A magnetic field (Jupiter's or otherwise) is not made of charged particles.

    What's going on is that charged particles in the solar wind get trapped by the magnetic field lines. Remember what I said in the LHC article, that charged particles travel in spirals when in the presence of a magnetic field? It's the same thing at work here.

    Charged particles in the solar wind pass through Jupiter's magnetic field (which is rather intense) and get trapped, circulating around the field lines while they (the particles) travel along the field lines (thing of a barber pole).

    Since Jupiter's magnetic field extends as far as Europa and beyond (it's large enough to encompass *all* of Jupiter's moons), these trapped charged particles end up colliding with the ice sheets.

    These collisions are fairly energetic and break the molecular bond between hydrogen and oxygen that exists in water. Hydrogen is much too light to be trapped by Europa's gravitational field and escapes to space (same reason why Earth's atmosphere is not rich in hydrogen), but oxygen is heavy enough to stick around. It's also very chemically reactive.

    As a result of its abundance and due to the tidal stresses that you pointed out, these free oxygen atoms percolate through the ice sheets down into the water below.

    Incidentally, the "charged particles get trapped by magnetic field lines and move along them in spirals" thing is the reason for Earth's aurora borealis.

    As the charged particles travel along the Earth's magnetic field lines, they get more concentrated in the poles (because the field lines are converging there).

    Such high density of charged particles at relatively low altitudes makes for frequent collisions with the atoms in the atmosphere, producing light of various frequencies (colors), hence the auroras.
     Reply
    Roklimber was starred Roklimber was unstarred
    Image of Roklimber Roklimber
    11/18/09

    @Roklimber: Here's a youtube animation of charged particles moving in a magnetic field.

    In this animation, the particle moves in a *circle* around the field lines (technically, a helix), rather than in a *spiral*, because the particle's energy is constant.

    In real-life situations, the particles continually lose energy due to collisions with the environment and also because they emanate electromagnetic radiation so, as a result, the radii of their helical trajectories decrease, producing helical spirals.
     Reply
    Roklimber was starred Roklimber was unstarred
    Image of Xanthippe Xanthippe
    11/18/09

    @Roklimber: I read it as similar to phrases like "when fish from the sea" or "when birds from the trees." Birds don't form trees, but it still makes sense because that's what they were hanging out on.
     Reply
    Roklimber promoted this comment Xanthippe was starred Xanthippe was unstarred
    Image of Roklimber Roklimber
    11/18/09

    @Xanthippe:

    On second reading, I agree. You're absolutely right. My apologies to Annalee.
     Reply
    Roklimber was starred Roklimber was unstarred
    Image of Roklimber Roklimber
    11/18/09

    @Xanthippe: On second reading, you're absolutely right. My apologies to Annalee.

    (weird... I just posted this exact comment but it disappeared, so I'm posting again)
     Reply
    Roklimber was starred Roklimber was unstarred
    Image of Im_your_Huckleberry Im_your_Huckleberry
    11/18/09

    @Roklimber: Rok, I've had to buy a new bottle of advil because of your articles. Donations will be accepted to defray the costs.:)

    P.S. I really dig you posts. I'm a science geek at heart I just don't have the Ph.d 's to prove it.
     Reply
    Roklimber promoted this comment Im_your_Huckleberry was starred Im_your_Huckleberry was unstarred
    Image of Roklimber Roklimber
    11/18/09

    @Im_your_Huckleberry:

    Sorry about the headaches, but thanks for the compliment. Though I don't do it full-time anymore, I love teaching physics and trying to contribute to other people's understanding of it.

    #calendar
     Reply
    Roklimber was starred Roklimber was unstarred
    Image of Im_your_Huckleberry Im_your_Huckleberry
    11/18/09

    @Roklimber: You just keep doing those kick-ass science articles headaches be damned!
     Reply
    Im_your_Huckleberry was starred Im_your_Huckleberry was unstarred
    Image of Roklimber Roklimber
    11/18/09

    @Im_your_Huckleberry:

    Heh... ok, as long as you don't make me liable for them. :)

    #calendar
     Reply
    Roklimber was starred Roklimber was unstarred
    Image of 32ndnote 32ndnote
    11/18/09

    In reply to Scientists Say Jupiter's Moon Europa Might Be Teeming With Fish
    Damn Europa-eans.
     Reply
    32ndnote was starred 32ndnote was unstarred
    Image of Hamslicer Hamslicer
    11/18/09

    @32ndnote: Ha!
     Reply
    Hamslicer was starred Hamslicer was unstarred
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