Move over, Europa. It looks as though the most life-friendly habitat ever discovered outside of Earth is Enceladus—Saturn's sixth-largest moon.

Astrophysicists working with NASA's Saturn sweeping Cassini spacecraft have just announced that Enceladus has a warm ocean at its southern pole with ongoing hydrothermal activity—the first ever discovered outside of Earth. This new research, published in the journal Nature, builds upon last year's discovery of the moon's 6-mile-deep ocean, which is also believed to contain many of the chemicals commonly associated with life.

 

Read the rest at: http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a14507/enceladus-saturn-moon-ocean/

 

Also another fact from the article, it has the "lost city hydrothermal field" that the Atlantic Ocean supposedly has. Scientists believed thats where life may have originated, so Enceladus may have life on it.

E.T.? Not so sure, but maybe bacteria and such. And given years later, maybe some more complex organisms. But who knows.

What do you guys think?

Very interesting, but unless it gives humanity a reason to create gundams and pick people from all nations to pilot and combat a new found alien threat...I pass.

But seriously, as long as we can migrate there in the near future (when I say near, I mean like thousands of years in the future) it's not going to help us much except with a sliver of knowledge about the universe

 

They need to hurry up and perfect cryostasis, I want to see the future full of mecha already.

Very interesting, but unless it gives humanity a reason to create gundams and pick people from all nations to pilot and combat a new found alien threat...I pass.

But seriously, as long as we can migrate there in the near future (when I say near, I mean like thousands of years in the future) it's not going to help us much except with a sliver of knowledge about the universe

 

They need to hurry up and perfect cryostasis, I want to see the future full of mecha already.

 

It could serve as a good base for us. I mean, we do need bases outside of Earth. 

It could serve as a good base for us. I mean, we do need bases outside of Earth. 

But what's the gravitational pull of the planet? Is it less than equal to or more than earth's? If it's equal to or more than, were better off just making a space colony on an asteroid or moon, that way humanity will be able to evolve into new types (sorry, I really want to live in the gundam universe)

 

And how far away is this planet? Is it worth sending people up there if it will take years to reach it? You might as well start a colony if you're going take that long to gather resources to sustain life for a three year or however long trip.

Well, this is a very interesting new discovery!  This just proves that there are traces of life throughout the universe, and not just on our planet!  It's an exciting prospect!

This is super exciting! Like, I seriously hope that when we are able to send some sort of rover (though I guess it would be called something else, being water based) that we find life. I'd either scream in excitement, or cry from excitement. Uggh, now I really want to know.

More habitable than Europa? Dang. It would be amazing if life is found there, or on Europa, or any of the other areas that are being examined. Even if it's just bacteria, that would be an incredible discovery.

It could serve as a good base for us. I mean, we do need bases outside of Earth. 

 

Meh. I would rather take all of the resources, manpower, and money needed to send people to colonize a new planet, and just use it all to fix Earth.

Meh. I would rather take all of the resources, manpower, and money needed to send people to colonize a new planet, and just use it all to fix Earth.

 

It is meh, but its a small moon. It is the size of Britain.

I rather have it be a base so we can put resources to colonize other habitable planets.