At www.jpl.nasa.gov/news March 7th … heat from the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus has been found to be much greater than previously deduced. The new information is derived from the Cassini spacecraft and has been written up in a paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research (March 4th, 2011). At the south Pole there are a number of linear fissures which seem to indicate the heat is internal – but this is guesswork. It is said to generate as much heat as all the hot springs in Yellowstone National Park, or in comparable terms, the output of 20 coal fired power stations. For the moment scientists are stumped. The mechanism involved is said to be challenging – seemingly contradicting orthodox thinking. It is thought the south polar zone is geologically active and it has four clearly discernible trenches some 80 miles long and a mile wide – like stripes. A 2007 study predicted the internal heat of Enceladus, if generated by tidal forces arising from orbital resonance, would be no greater than 1.1 gw – yet it is 15.8 gw. A big difference.
The other story is all over the media, from the BBC to various broadsheets. It is also at www.dailygalaxy.com March 7th, 'NASA Scientist – Solid Evidence of ET Fossil Life in a Meteorite', namely bacteria. An astrobiologist at NASAs Space Flight Centre claims he has found tiny fossils of alien life in a meteorite. He has made such claims before and they have been treated with sceptism, or challenged – and a certain amount of, 'oh no we've been here before' was apparent when the story broke. However, give Richard Hoover credit. He has gone back to the lab after his original research was rebuffed and come up with more solid evidence to back up what has become a matter of belief and this time he may very well be vindicated. There was a surprising amount of unenthusiastic comment when the news was beamed out a few days ago but it seems this time his persistence may have paid off and he really has solid evidence. Fred Hoyole and Chandra Wickramasinghe were saying decades ago that life could be brought to earth from outer space. In fact, the earth could well have been seeded by such a route, and therefore other planets and solar systems could very well have life on them, not too different to that of earth. The problem is that if that was the case there should be a lot of evidence in meteorites to back the theory up – but it has been very slow in coming.