Thursday 25 April 2013

Granny Hand-Me-Downs / Alien Life in the Solar System (part 2)

I just found a month-old outfit on my computer that I never posted! This was a great excuse to stay in comfy clothes all day, and not having to venture outside to take outfit photos ;) 

So this skirt is quite a special vintage piece because it's actually a hand-me-down from my Grandma, which I shortened. And I think that plaid skirts look awesome paired with suspenders - it's something I've been doing a lot lately, pairing them with a plain shirt and then throwing on either a neutral-coloured or patterned cardigan over the top.

skirt - Vintage (my Grandmas old skirt)
shirt - Cotton On
suspenders - Thrifted
socks - c/o Sock Dreams
shoes - Thrifted

Titan is Saturn's largest moon. Titan is really cool because it has a super thick atmosphere, and although it is a pretty cold place with a lot of frozen water, it has lakes and rivers made up of liquid methane on its surface. Like Europa (see yesterday's post), Titan could possibly also have a liquid water subsurface ocean. Titan currently has the highest rating (other than Earth) on the "Planetary Habitability Index". This means it is the second most likely world in our solar system to harbour life.
Image credit
Alien life
The presence of methane in the atmosphere of Titan is intriguing, because it is something which is normally depleted in an atmosphere unless organisms (like us guys on Earth) are constantly replenishing it. Two years ago, a space mission reported anomalies in the atmosphere, which could have been due to methane-producing organisms. But, it could have also just been volcanoes spewing out gas (read more about this finding and the debate here). Because of the extremely cold temperatures (an average day on Titan is -180°C), life as we know it would not be able to exist on Titan, but life totally unlike what we would recognise could be a possibility. Laboratory simulations have shown that there is in fact enough organic material on Titan to start a chemical evolution similar to what probably occurred on Earth.

The NASA spaceship Cassini is currently doing multiple fly-bys of Titan, trying to figure out if it has a subsurface ocean, and looking for other signs of life, but it won't be landing on the surface. There was a probe sent to the surface in 2005, but unfortunately it only kept sending data back to Earth for 90 minutes (the picture below shows the sole image of the surface that was sent back). There have been proposals for other probes that would last a lot longer than that, but nothing concrete has been put in place yet.
Huygen's only image of Titan's surface (2005) - Image credit
I hope you're enjoying these posts about life in the solar system. I think that if I wasn't doing neuroscience and biochemistry, I'd love to do astrobiology. There will also be a part three and four, so look out for them in the next few days.







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22 comments:

  1. Space is definitely the coolest thing ever. Love that you've been posting about it!

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  2. OMG, You cut your hair? :O
    But, you're still cute <3
    Come and see my blog if you have time <3

    xo,
    G

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  3. very lovely! it's great that you shortened the skirt! but now you're making me wonder how it looks like un-revamped! haha :)

    xoxo,
    Rae
    http://raellarina.blogspot.com/

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  4. More please! These are really amusing :)

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  5. Love this outfit! And of course the science :) Have you heard of the Panspermia theory? About to go take a test on it right now as a matter a fact and you should look it up :)

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    1. Yeah! That would mean that if there were life on Titan, the organic material that made it up would have come from somewhere else (like the erupting volcano of another moon, or an asteroid which hit it, etc). You're doing a whole test on panspermia? or is it just part of it? Anyway, awesome :) i hope you did well!

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  6. haha, this is nice exuse :) this outfit is really great and lady like :) i like it !
    http://coeursdefoxes.blogspot.com/

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  7. Ooh, your outfit is totally cute ! I like the story about the skirt, it's something I find amazing when clothes can cross the ages. I'm used to search in the cartons where my mother put her old clothing, I always find treasures !

    Life in the solar system, there's nothing else which can attract more my curiosity ! Actually I'm kind of fascinated with UFO's stories and so on, and deep inside of me I would like to meet some people from another planet :D But when you hear scientists, you understand that the chances are so few. There are probably bacteries on other planets, but not humanoids.
    Recently I read this article, which maybe has nothing to do here, but I find it unbelievable. What's your opinion ? Do you think a human momie of 6 inches can really exists ??

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    1. PS : Oh, and have you heard about this project, Mars One which will send people on Mars in 2023 ? That would be amazing. But I'm a bit septic because, first, it will be a TV show, people will live and die on Mars, and I'm not sure about how they could survive there. And it's a lot of preparation and money, but still, I think this kind of idea can help in the progression of visiting other planets. If nobody decides to move, we will always stay on Earth ;)

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    2. I disagree that scientists only think that bacteria could exist on other planets. That may be the case for our solar system, but within the entire universe I think the possibility of intelligent lifeforms, somewhere, is quite high. I don't think I've ever heard a good scientist totally disregard the idea of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. The idea that intelligent life has visited Earth, made crop circles etc is very likely not true, but that it could exist somewhere out there in the giant universe? I think (and hope) that it does.

      Hmm, so, that 6 inch human "Ata" is an interesting one.
      When someone is trying to obtain money & fame from an incredible claim (this guy's documentary has gone to Hollywood), instead of just being amazed an letting a whole lot of scientists who know what they're doing investigate it, you have to be a little bit worried about whether or not it is a hoax. It very well could be a hoax, but putting that aside, what are the other possibilities?
      - There could have been contamination and the DNA they found and measured actually comes from a different source
      - It could have been a foetus that was deformed, and mummified for some cultural reasons we no longer understand
      - It could have been a really weird genetic abnormality. This would be amazing because that would mean a person managed to survive, at 6-inches in size, for 6 years with something we have never seen before. (Although the 6-year-old claim was made by a medical person whose credentials are not great.)

      I think it is probably a deformed foetus that died before birth and was mummified. Still, it will be interesting to hear more about it. But one thing is certain - there needs to be more research into it before any real conclusions can be made.

      I actually wrote about Mars One a couple of months ago (here)! I think the idea is amaaazing, but that the whole reality TV thing is a little bit insane, haha. Still, if that's what it takes to get people exploring Mars, I'm all for it...

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    3. Well, I agree I was wrong when I generalised about scientists saying that only bacterias could exist. It's what I heard from a TV report about the subject, but the opinion of one guy can not represent the thoughts of all the scientists.
      That's maybe because there are more chances to find bacterias than humanoids, but I also want to believe there are some other people or animals on other planets. That would be awesome to see different physical caracteristics etc, and maybe enter in contact with them.
      That would enlarge all our knowledge and open new perspectives. I think we are only at the very begining of space exploration, and I feel kind of sad that I'll probably be very old when it will starts to be more and more developed ! But I'm pretty sure we will find ways to explore the universe faster and on long distances, but it will take time !

      I thought it was a hoax too. When I read the entire article I was suspicious so I made researches, but that's apparently a true momie.
      Then, of course the analysis they made might be too... hmm, well, they want to prove what they believe in, as you said it's maybe just a malformation, and that would be the most probable. But it's creepy when you look at it, because you really have the impression it's a strange tiny human, though I'm not quite sure it could have survive 6 years : how that would have been possible, what did he eat, who took care of him when he a "baby"... that's a bit complicated.

      Oh sorry I didn't see that post ! Thank you !
      Yep, it's true it is a bit insane, and they said there won't be a return ticket for the people ! Imagine, you have to accept to never see your friends and family again, and they'll watch you dying at TV. It's horrible, and it made me think that the world is going mad.
      But as you said, it's interesting in another point of view because it will help in the conquest of the universe, and that will be a big step in History. I'm waiting for the day they will terraform Mars !

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    4. So, I'm sadder about the fact that I will probably never see aliens in my lifetime, like, more than anything else, haha. I am crossing my fingers that some sort of digital immortality will be worked out by then and I'll be able to download my brain into a computer haha, so that I will be around when space travel really kicks off. (That's kind of half the reason I'm doing neuroscience :P )
      I think that you are right, that there are more chances to find bacteria and smaller lifeforms than complex ones, but I think due to the sheer number of worlds in the universe, there has to be intelligent life on at least some of them. Have you ever heard of the Drake equation? I think that you would really love this website: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120821-how-many-alien-worlds-exist
      It gives you an estimate of how many intelligent alien civilizations should exist in our own galaxy, based on both pessimistic and optimistic outlooks.

      Well, until more evidence is available, and more people have gotten the chance to study it, there is no way that anyone can say with confidence exactly what the 6 inch person thing is. You're very right that the simplest answer is the most probable. I still am really interested to hear more about it. If it fades into the background, then unfortunately it was probably a hoax :(

      I don't think that embarking on an exploration with the chance of never coming home again is a totally new thing. It would have been much the same for the people who first started exploring mountains and oceans, the arctic circle, and explorers who visited other continents. They always had a great chance of never returning home as well - and a lot didn't. So I don't think it's necessarily humanity going mad - I think it's a very human thing, in fact.

      I have actually thought seriously about whether or not I would go to Mars on a one-way ticket. I would never be allowed to go because I am not healthy, but if I were... well... I could see myself signing up, maybe if I were about 35 or 40 years old and lonely, haha. Or if I were given 20 years to live for some reason. Then I would go. I'm really interested to see the kind of people who do sign up though.

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    5. Thank you for the link of the Drake equation ! That's really interesting, and I prefer to believe in the optimistic estimations :-D
      You're right about the explorators. Christoph Colomb decided to see what was further the ocean despite the people said that the Evil lived there. So he didn't know if he was leaving his land forever or not. I think it's something important that some persons are brave enough to say "I'm going where nobody went before". It's thanks to them that the world advance !

      Haha, I thought the same ! If in 20 years my life is sad and not interesting, so yeah I would have no regret to go there ! But right now I can't really imagine. I've watched some videos of the people who applied, there are really all the kind ! But I think the selection will be strict, as they need a minimum of professional skills I guess... they'll not send Paris Hilton in the space ! (shame on them if they do so !)

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  8. your skirt is so cute, I always love seeing your vintage clothing revamps! xx
    tiny-adventure.blogspot.com

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  9. You look so cute! I do believe that sooner or later we will hear something good from Nasa!I am so excited.
    xo
    Anastasia
    http://natbeesfashion.blogspot.com

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  10. you look lovely!!
    would you like to follow each other?
    http://inyasuniverse.blogspot.be/

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  11. Your skirt is so adorable! I love that it was your grandma's - those are always the best pieces. :)

    xoxo,
    Laura
    http://lauraisthriftingthroughlife.blogspot.com/

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  12. This plaid skirt is awesome! I love that it was your grandma's! Getting hand-me-down pieces is the best thing ever. I really like the suspenders you paired with it.

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