Scientist Urges Exploration of Europa

A scientist at the University of California, Berkeley wants NASA to look for life on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.

Because of the well-supported presence of water ice on Europa, and the probability that there are briny oceans, Europa has to be a major target for the search for life in the solar system, said paleobiologist Jere H. Lipps, a professor of integrative biology. Many of us are proposing that there is habitat there where we can expect to find evidence of life.

Europa, Jupiter’s third-largest moon, is thought to have an ocean of water covered by a layer of ice that could be miles thick.

Life thrives in ice, it doesn’t mind at all, said Lipps.

He said life on other plants is more likely to be akin to bacteria than humans.