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Could Jupiter’s Icy Moon Europa Have Life Powered By Nuclear Energy?

Among the places within our solar system that could potentially support life as we know it (other than Earth, of course), Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is one of the prime candidates. New research by a team of Brazilian researchers indicates native life-forms on the solar system’s sixth-largest moon, if they exist, could be powered by nuclear energy.

With its surface covered in a thick layer of ice, thought to be about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) deep, and a warm subsurface ocean estimated to be 10 times deeper, Europa is also the target of an upcoming NASA mission, called Europa Clipper, designed to study the icy world’s habitability. The findings made by researchers from the University of Sao Paulo may help that mission.

“We studied the possible effects of a biologically usable energy source on Europa based on information obtained from an analogous environment on Earth,” principal investigator Douglas Galante from USP and one of the paper’s coauthors, told Agência FAPESP in an interview Wednesday.


Source :- ibtimes

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