NASA investigates the Caribbean keys to finding extraterrestrial life

NASA is studying a mysterious ecosystem in the Caribbean, western Cuba. to get clues about how life can be on planets such as Jupiter's moon Europa, have a subsurface ocean.

In one of the deepest hydrothermal springs in the world, small shrimp are stacked in layers creeping down chimneys rock throwing hot water. Installed in their mouths bacteria produce organic matter that serves food.

    "Over two-thirds of the Earth's history, life has existed only as microbial life," said Max Coleman, senior researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "In Europe, the best chance of microbial life would be."

    The bacteria that are able to live in these submarine springs could survive in extreme environments because chemosynthesis, a process that works in the absence of sunlight and allows organisms obtain energy from chemical reactions. In this case, bacteria use hydrogen sulfide, an abundant chemical in these outcrops, to produce organic matter.

    The temperature of these springs can reach 400 degrees Celsius, but a few dentímetros away is already cool enough for shrimp. The shrimp are blind, but thermal receptors in the back of his head.

    "The overall goal of our research is to see how much life or biomass that can be supported by the chemical energy of the hot submarine springs," Coleman said.

    Hydrogen sulfide is toxic to the organisms at high levels, so that feed target shrimp bacteria need a certain quantity of the chemical to survive. Nature has developed a solution: shrimp is placed at the boundary between sea water and oxygenated water rich in sulfur so they can coexist in harmony with bacteria. "It is a remarkable symbiotic system," Coleman said.

    "That an animal like this could exist in Europe depends largely on the actual amount of energy released there through hydrothermal springs," said Emma Versteegh, a postdoctoral fellow at JPL. "The ocean is explored and there is nothing," Coleman said. "And then, suddenly, we hydrothermal springs and a massive ecosystem. It is literally full of life."

Bu Haber için yorum yapabilirsiniz 24.02.2015 17:36:02 207.241.237.208

Yorumlar()