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NASA finds Titan's lakes may be creating vesicles with primitive cell walls
Saturn’s moon Titan may be more alive with possibilities than we thought. New NASA research suggests that in Titan’s freezing methane and ethane lakes, simple molecules could naturally arrange themselves into vesicles—tiny bubble-like structures that mimic the first steps toward life. These compartments, born from splashing droplets and complex chemistry in Titan’s atmosphere, could act like primitive cell walls.
New NASA research, published in the International Journal of Astrobiology, outlines a process by which stable vesicles might form on Titan, based on our current knowledge of the moon's atmosphere and chemistry. The new study considered how vesicles might form in the freezing conditions of Titan's hydrocarbon lakes and seas by focusing on sea-spray droplets, thrown upwards by splashing raindrops. "The existence of any vesicles on Titan would demonstrate an increase in order and complexity, which are conditions necessary for the origin of life," explains Conor Nixon of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
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