LONDON: Life may exist on Jupiter — not in the form of intelligent beings but perhaps in the form of primitive plants or single-celled creatures which may (in a few thousand million years) evolve into intelligent beings.

This is the startling conclusion of two American space scientists, Dr Cyril Ponnamperuma and Mr Fritz Woeller, of the Ames Research Laboratory California. They have carried out laboratory experiments in which they simulated Jupiter’s atmosphere.

Jupiter — largest of the planets in the solar system (about 317 times bigger than the Earth) — has an atmosphere rich in the basic elements of all living matter: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. It is also thought to contain large quantities of ammonia and methane — just as the Earth’s atmosphere is believed to have done when it was formed 4,500 million years ago.

The crucial question is: is there water on Jupiter? For water is essential to life.

Recent observations suggest that there may well be. Although Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is very cold (minus 365 degrees Fahrenheit) there is now thought to be an inner layer 1,800 miles thick which acts as a cocoon to the planet and permits water in liquid form.

Dr Ponnamperuma and Mr Woeller mixed the Jupiter gas mixture and water inside flasks in their laboratory. They fired in lightning — thought to have been the trigger of Life on Earth.

They found that they could produce many of the complex chemical “building blocks” that make up living cells as we know them.

They duplicated the extremely low temperatures in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere and found that it made no difference to what happened. They also varied the pressure — but that, too, did not interfere with the process. So they conclude that it is quite possible that what happed on Earth millions of years ago is now happening on Jupiter.—Dawn-Express Service

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2017