A simple experiment could help find alien life on Europa

NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk

By Jonathan O’Callaghan

In our hunt for existence on varied worlds, amino acids could be key. The subsurface oceans of wintry moons equivalent to Jupiter’s Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus would possibly perhaps presumably maybe have detectable amino acids, likely biosignatures of existence. However amino acids can additionally be produced by geological processes, so we wish to grab if spotting them would genuinely mean we possess stumbled on aliens.

The fundamental step is to rule out amino acids created when the represent voltaic system first formed, which possess previously been stumbled on on comets. “Amino acids …