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Saturn's moon Titan could harbor life, but only a tiny amount

(news.arizona.edu)
61 points geox | 4 comments | 07 Apr 25 21:31 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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bpodgursky ◴[10 Apr 25 14:26 UTC] No.43644126[source]▶
> The researchers specifically focused on one organic molecule, glycine, the simplest of all known amino acids.

This is such a goofy assumption. That any life on Titan would use the exact same amino acids as earth-based life. If you have no clue whether something is possible, sometimes it's better to predict nothing at all.

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1. bilekas ◴[10 Apr 25 15:25 UTC] No.43644843[source]▶
> This is such a goofy assumption. That any life on Titan would use the exact same amino acids as earth-based life.

I might be wrong, but I think they use this assumption because they KNOW life has already formed this way, it would be goofy to assume methods that we haven't witnessed right ?

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2. ceejayoz ◴[10 Apr 25 15:56 UTC] No.43645206[source]▶
That's still a bit goofy; it's essentially the same thing as the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult phenomenon.
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3. bilekas ◴[10 Apr 25 16:26 UTC] No.43645506[source]▶
Maybe I missed the mark here but is it not similar to saying "it seems goofy to look on planets with water just because that's what life required on earth"?

I'm not in any way educated on these things but are these not basic building blocks kind of things?

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4. ceejayoz ◴[10 Apr 25 17:06 UTC] No.43645956{3}[source]▶
We know the basic building blocks for Earth life.

We currently have zero evidence for any life off the planet, water/carbon-based or otherwise. It would likely be a mistake to assume that we're the only possible setup. Maybe life spreads primarily and very slowly in Oort clouds, and we're a bit of an abberation.

Even here on Earth, we've been surprised to find life in boiling water and miles underground.