
New Evidence Points to Icy Plate Tectonics on Europa - rbanffy
https://gizmodo.com/new-evidence-points-to-icy-plate-tectonics-on-europa-1820990213?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_twitter&utm_source=gizmodo_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
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greenmana
Europa Report is a great sci-fi movie. Some people don't like its low-
budgetness, but it's very much worth checking out.

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2051879/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2051879/)

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maxxxxx
I would have much preferred if the alien life had been positive and friendly.
Why are all the movies these days about hostile aliens?

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dwaltrip
Arrival has non-hostile aliens.

BTW, if anyone liked Arrival, the older film Contact is really good as well.

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fuzzythinker
There's another film "The Arrival" that's a year older than Contact.

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rbanffy
That one feels like a failed series pilot.

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Sir_Cmpwn
I really wish we'd get off our asses and study Europa et al, but instead we're
stuck building this stupid-ass rocket so that congress looks good for making
jobs. Just how much evidence needs to be pile up before we take these lines of
inquiry seriously?

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mturmon
We're on it: [https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/europa-
clipper/](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/europa-clipper/)

Instruments were selected early this year, and specific designs and instrument
contractors are being chosen.

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Sir_Cmpwn
I dunno, the vague "2020's" timeline is depressing. If we directed even a
fraction of the SLS budget into this it could probably launch in late 2018 or
2019.

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mturmon
No, 2018-2019 is not possible. The instruments are not built yet!

There's a limit to what money could do to accelerate. Engineers are doing
trade studies literally right now - here's an informal progress report given
in October to the Space Studies Board of the National Academies of Science:
[http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/ssbsite/documen...](http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/ssbsite/documents/webpage/ssb_183287.pdf)

Hopefully that is reassuring that it's not just an academic exercise! Earliest
launch date is listed there as 2022 (page 3).

These studies are needed to be sure that agreed-upon science objectives would
be met by the instruments. Here is an old Europa STM (science traceability
matrix) that lays out the measurement goals
([https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/europa/docs/Clipper_Trace_Matri...](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/europa/docs/Clipper_Trace_Matrix_V2.2_140609.pdf)
\- compare around page 16 of the above presentation). The current STM will be
_much_ more elaborate.

The trade studies and experiments now underway are directed at checking these
off or saying why they are not attainable. In particular, note (pg. 14/15) the
multi-pronged approach to assessing the moon. One of the pieces is the plumes
that are emerging from the surface; how do you locate and sample from one of
the plumes? Do you need some on-board software to find them? If so, what
sensors does it need?

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Sir_Cmpwn
Well hey, good luck! I withdraw my concerns (but maintain that SLS sucks).

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mturmon
All interest in solar system exploration is welcome!

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warent
Inquiry: if we do find some form of life in Europa, what does that tell us
about the probability of life existing in the universe? Does it necessarily
increase the likelihood that life is actually _highly_ common in the universe,
and a very regular outgrowth of nature?

EDIT: Specifically just life in general, not necessarily "intelligent life"

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pavanred
Isn't "intelligent life" just a function of time of "life"? I am reading the
book "Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of
Consciousness" currently and the book makes the case that intelligence and/or
consciousness has evolved separately in mammals (humans) and cephalopods.

The more I look at diversity and evolution of life on Earth, it seems like
"intelligent life" as we know it is just a inevitable consequence of
evolution, given enough time, perhaps.

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maxxxxx
Well adapted life is a consequence of evolution. Intelligence is not necessary
to survive. I am not sure who the master of the planet is: us or ants? Both
are incredibly successful but with totally different strategies.

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rbanffy
> Intelligence is not necessary to survive

It's even debatable whether it is an asset.

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kazinator
In fact, it can be argued that intelligence leads to low birth rates and
population decline that extrapolates to eventual extinction.

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maxxxxx
Or it leads to avoiding overpopulation and depletion of resources. I think the
intelligent thing for us to do would be to limit ourselves to a certain
population size and stop growing.

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rbanffy
It would be lovely, but this hypothesis is not confirmed by our observation.

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maxxxxx
Ssems we are not as intelligent as we think :-)

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rbanffy
Either that, or intelligence is overrated.

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kazinator
Intelligence is overrated because non-intelligence lacked the faculties for
contributing any offsetting negative ratings.

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baxtr
What is a realistic timeframe when mankind will set foot on Europa (if ever).
2200? Is there any way to predict? I’d love to visit, ain’t gonna happen I
guess :/

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sandworm101
>> Excitingly, this same process could be delivering important minerals to the
ocean below, heightening the moon’s status a potentially habitable world.

Ok, so the surface ice is being pulled down. But that means that there should
be a correspondingly steady flow of deep water onto the surface. If that water
is full of life then we should be able to see evidence of it in the surface
ice. I'm not looking for frozen giant squid on the surface, but shouldn't we
see some chemical evidence?

