Saturn’s Moon Enceladus May Harbor Life. Study Finds Complex Organic Molecules

The Extraterrestrial Ocean of Enladus, the old mushrooms and the flavor of the influenza

By Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Jeffery Delviscio & Alex Sugiura

Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For American scientist‘s Science quickly, I am Rachel Feltman. Launch of the week with a quick overview of certain new scientists that you may have missed.

First of all, exciting space news. According to a study published last Wednesday in Natural astronomyThe ocean of the moon of Saturn Enlade contains complex organic molecules which indicate that the environment could potentially support life.

Enceladus is a moon as wide as the state of Arizona. In 2005, the Cassini spacecraft caught plumes of water vapor and frozen particles which pulled tiger cracks in the icy crust of the planet. A subsequent analysis of the gravity measures captured by Cassini confirmed the presence of an underground ocean near the southern pole of the moon about a decade later.

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Cassini’s mission ended in 2017, but a new data analysis of an overview of 2008 has just given additional information on the aqueous tank of the freezing moon. By stealing through one of the plumes of water, the spacecraft exposed its instrument of cosmic dust analyzer to tiny grains of freshly ejected ice.

After years studying data from different overview events to understand how Cassini’s instruments behaved under different conditions, scientists were able to apply their results to the old data and find new models.

The new study determined that several sophisticated carbon -based structures, including esters and ethers, can be found in groundwater. This is important because these structures are identical to the substances considered as vital chemical elements for living organisms on earth. And this adds to the evidence that the Moon could be a convincing candidate for the accommodation of a kind of life – or at least allowing us to better understand how life has evolved on our own planet.

Speaking of life as we know it – and how it happened here – a study published last Wednesday Ecology and evolution of nature suggests that for hundreds of millions of years before vegetable life was on earth, mushrooms may have dominated the planet.

The delicate filaments of mycelium which generally constitute the bodies of fungi do not tend to fossil well, and the fossils they leave behind are often microscopic and difficult to identify. This new study aimed to overcome this problem using a “molecular clock”. Essentially, scientists can trace the chronology of the divergence of one species of another by counting the difference in their respective number of genetic mutations, which occur at fairly regular intervals as organisms evolve.

Counting ticks of a molecular clock is only possible if you have regular anchoring points in the fossil backrest to calibrate them, which is delicate for fungi. The researchers behind the new study bypassed this by integrating the cases of transferring horizontal genes between the species, as well as transmitted mutations from one generation to another. The follow -up when a gene has gone from one line to another helped scientists identify which organizations emerged when, which according to them, allowed them to tighten the chronology of fungal evolution. The study suggests that mushrooms have evolved from a common ancestor dating from around 1.4 to 0.9 billion years, about half a billion years or more before land factories evolve. Researchers argue that mushrooms can have paved the way for plants by breaking down rocks and cyclists to create the first soils.

Now for some health news. According to a study published last week in the Lancet infectious diseasesThe risk that children and young adults were developing a long cochered could be twice as high with a second infection as with the first. Looking at the 2022 and 2023 data of approximately 465,000 children and adolescents, the researchers found an increased risk of chronic symptoms potentially linked to the condition such as severe fatigue, headache, kidney damage, abdominal pain, cognitive problems and abnormal cardiac rhythms after a second infection. Blood clots were more than twice more likely with a very covidal repeated case, and the risk of myocarditis – potentially deadly swelling of the heart – in fact more than tripled. The authors of the study noted that long cowled cases were not necessarily linked to a serious illness during acute cocovio infection. Researchers argue that this highlights the need for continuous immunization of young people.

In some lighter respiratory infection news, a study published last Wednesday ACS Central Science Tips that we could one day have access to an easy and surprisingly tasty method to diagnose the flu at home. The researchers behind the new study would have created a molecular sensor which reacts to the presence of the influenza virus by producing a distinct flavor.

The sensor responds to Neuraminidase, which is glycoprotein that the flu virus uses to infect cells. The synthesized substance used in the sensor is attached to a thymol molecule, which is found in herbs thyme and produces a strong taste. In laboratory tests using human saliva bottles, the presence of influenza caused the rupture of thymol. In a human mouth, this reaction should lead to a separate plant -based flavor. Researchers say they hope to conduct human clinical trials of a flu test in the next two years.

Speaking of surprisingly delicious things, a study published last Friday iscience Show how a traditional recipe for yogurt used a rather unusual secret ingredient to launch fermentation: ants.

The yogurt is formed when microorganisms ferments milk and create lactic acid, which thickens the dairy and gives it a tangy taste. At the beginning of the 20th century, scientists isolated some of the bacterial strains capable of achieving it, and now the production of yogurt is largely based on some species of bacteria.

Many traditional yogurt manufacturing methods fell on the edge of the path as production became standardized, including a traditional Balkans and Turkey practice involving red wood ants. The authors behind the new study decided to take a closer look at this recipe.

Under the direction of the Bulgarian family of one of the co-authors of the study, as well as other inhabitants, the researchers placed four ants in a hot milk ship and covered the pot with a piece of vest. The researchers then buried it in a mound of ants during the night, where the heat produced by the activity of the colony served as an incubator for fermentation. The next day, the sample showed the first signs of fermentation, coagulant milk, becoming more acidic and taking a slightly sour taste.

Back in the laboratory, the team confirmed that red wood ants transport lactic and acetic bacteria, including a type similar to that found in the commercial sourdough. Scientists have also found that formal acid ants produce as a defense mechanism is used to acidify milk and probably contributes to creating a better environment for microbes.

The researchers even teamed up with chefs of a two-star Michelin restaurant to create dishes such as ice cream and spray cheese powered by ants. But do not go and dig in your backyard to still find fermentation friends: scientists warn that living ants can transport parasites, while frozen or dehydrated ants include their own potential risks. This can add a danger to the process if you do not have the right equipment and the right knowledge to confirm that yogurt is sure to consume.

This is all for the roundup of this week’s new scientists. Connect on Wednesday to know how one of the most famous astronauts on the Internet uses its experience in SpaceFlight to write alternative thrillers.

Science quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, with Fonda Mwangi and Jeff Delviscio. This episode was published by Alex Sugiura. Shayna has and Aaron Shattuck checks our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to American scientist For new scientists up to date and in -depth.

For Scientific American, Here is Rachel Feltman. Spend a good week!