There's a theory that life actually originated not directly through photosynthesis based life, but originally from a very constant source of energy - the earth's crust - Hyperthermophile archaea - using non-oxygen based metabolism which migrated to the surface where photosynthesis evolved and took over as the core energy source.
Tjeerd van Andel — one of the original Alvin divers from Scripps — once told a group of us that their excitement at finding giant mussels around these smokers was both scientific and culinary. Large, rich and meaty, with a hint of Radon, apparently, which meant they had to limit their intake.
It’s a shame there weren’t any deep sea potatoes to complete the classic mosselen-friet / moules frites / mussel French fries combo.
I won't pretend to be a biologist, so forgive me if this is naïve, but this does feel like it's at least within the realm of possibility of working similarly on Europa, right? As in a non-zero chance at least.
r00fus ·6 hours ago
All laid out in Paul Davies' book - fascinating read: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Fifth-Miracle/Pau...
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gorgoiler ·28 minutes ago
It’s a shame there weren’t any deep sea potatoes to complete the classic mosselen-friet / moules frites / mussel French fries combo.
blakesterz ·8 hours ago
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52631-9
Lots of cool pictures if you like oceanography stuff.
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ruleryak ·6 hours ago
I won't pretend to be a biologist, so forgive me if this is naïve, but this does feel like it's at least within the realm of possibility of working similarly on Europa, right? As in a non-zero chance at least.
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RachelF ·6 hours ago
The Economist magazine is not what it used to be, sadly.
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