"I'm not afraid of your jokes. This is the first time I heard the word Europa." Sun Zhongyong said with a smile.
"But, is there really the Possibility of Life's Existence on the planet Europa? Didn't you say it's an ice ball with a very low temperature?"
These days, Martian base is quite lively.
The news that Chen Mengchuan and others decided to prepare a detection spacecraft to go to Europa soon spread throughout Martian base.
"Europa is indeed a planet where life may exist, but the specific life form can only be known by arriving at Europa for on-site detection. The most likely possibility is that some extremophile organisms exist." Chen Mengchuan answered Sun Zhongyong's words.
The planet Europa can be regarded as a relatively special planet. Its living environment may be similar to the deep sea hot springs on the earth or Lake Vostok in Antarctica. If there is life, its form of life may be similar to some extremophile organisms on the earth.
Extremophiles are organisms that can grow and reproduce in extreme environments, and are usually single-celled organisms. The extreme environments here are anthropocentric in definition, but to the creatures themselves, these environments are ordinary. That is to say, strictly speaking, these "extreme environments" are places where some organisms can survive, regardless of whether humans think these places are ordinary or extreme.
To give an example, humans can be classified as mesophilic aerobic organisms.
Ordinary people don't have a deep understanding of this type of creature, so it's normal for Sun Zhongyong not to understand it. Even Chen Mengchuan himself doesn't know much about this type of creatures and this type of extreme environment.
"Extremophile creatures? Do such creatures really exist?" Sun Zhongyong is obviously very unfamiliar with these.
Chen Mengchuan smiled, raised his hand and smiled at a tanned middle-aged man next to him, and said, "If you have this question, I have to ask Dr. Li."
Dr. Li Xiaosong has short short hair and wears glasses with fixed straps. His not tall body looks very thin, and his smile looks very shy.
"There is such a life form." Li Xiaosong said.
"Most of the life forms on the earth can be classified into the subject of aerobic organisms. Humans, birds, fish, and most fungi are aerobic organisms. Aerobic organisms use the chemical reaction of oxygen to break down sugar and fat, and obtain energy from them to support the existence of life forms."
"The opposite of aerobic organisms are anaerobic organisms. We usually refer to organisms that do not require oxygen to grow. In fact, there are not many of them. They can be roughly divided into three types: obligate anaerobic organisms, facultative anaerobic organisms, and oxygen-tolerant anaerobic organisms."
"The professional knowledge in this area is quite deep." Li Xiaosong said and then stopped.
"Dr. Li, tell me. In fact, we don't know much about these." Chen Mengchuan smiled. He knew the reason why Li Xiaosong stopped. A lot of professional knowledge is very unpopular, so it is not necessarily interesting.
Li Xiaosong hesitated for a moment, considered the language, and then spoke again, "Then I will briefly introduce you."
"As mentioned just now, anaerobic organisms are generally divided into three categories. The first category is obligate anaerobic organisms. Obligate anaerobic organisms are more extreme. If exposed to an oxygen environment, many anaerobic organisms will die quickly. Most obligate anaerobic organisms survive by fermentation or anaerobic respiration. Once with When exposed to oxygen from the air or surface, obligate anaerobic organisms will lack superoxide dismutase and catalase. These enzymes can help remove the deadly superoxide in the cells of obligate anaerobic organisms. A small number of them will survive, but most will die quickly."
"There are many obligate anaerobic bacteria among some fungi, such as Actinomycetes, Clostridium, Macrobacterium, Fusobacterium, Peptostreptococcus, etc."
"Facultative anaerobic organisms and aerobic anaerobic organisms are organisms that can survive in both aerobic and anaerobic environments. The difference is that aerobic anaerobic organisms do not use oxygen as the final electron acceptor. This is a relatively unpopular knowledge. It involves many professional knowledge points, so I will not go into details."
Li Xiaosong spoke very plainly, and Sun Zhongyong basically understood it.
"Dr. Li, from a professional perspective, do you think there will be these creatures on Europa?" Sun Zhongyong asked him directly.
"Life science is relatively rigorous, and there may be many forms of life that we don't know about. Therefore, whether there is life in this Europa requires actual observation and scientific research before we can make an accurate judgment. From my personal point of view, I am still leaning towards yes. After all, this will be a guess that everyone is looking forward to."
Li Xiaosong speaks very distinctively, with a steady rhythm and quite humble words. It sounds like a more comfortable one.
"I hope this Europa really has the kind of life you mentioned."
"If there really is a large amount of liquid ocean under the ice, the probability of life existing is very high. Among the extremophiles, there is also a type of psychrophilic organism, which can maintain the ability to grow and reproduce in a low-temperature environment."
"Unlike other organisms, psychrophiles have many different metabolic methods, such as photosynthesis, chemoautotrophy, heterotrophy, and the formation of robust, diverse populations. Most psychrophiles belong to bacteria or archaea, and they are also widely distributed in the microbial lineage. Because the temperature of the planet Europa is far away from the sun and affected by the gravity of Jupiter, it can receive very little Solar Wind radiation. Such low temperature conditions are actually very suitable for the survival of many psychrophilic organisms."
Li Xiaosong's words made Sun Zhongyong's eyes slightly brighter. "Haha, I now believe that there will be life on this Europa. Maybe there is a colorful underwater world under the ice."
"Many astrobiologists believe that Europa has life, because taking the Tardigrades species on Earth, many Tardigrades species can survive in the outer space environment. There are also many orthodox scientists who speculate that Tardigrades species themselves are species that came to Earth from outer space." Li Xiaosong said slowly.
"There are also creatures that can survive in outer space?" Sun Zhongyong was a little unconvinced.
Li Xiaosong nodded. "Some, such as the tardigrade, a tardigrade that is very small, but it is indeed an animal. There are many species, and there are nearly a thousand known species. Because the individuals are too small, most of them are no more than 1 mm, it is generally difficult to notice them, but in fact they can be found everywhere. Tardigrades can be found in some freshwater sediments, moist soil, and the water film of bryophytes."
"I know tardigrades!" A young voice suddenly interrupted, it was the daughter of Sun Zhongyong.
Sun Zhongyong looked down at his daughter. "You also know?"
"Dad, you are so uneducated. Of course I know it, my mother knows it, and my sister knows it, but you don't know it. Octonauts introduced tardigrades!" The girl's voice was very arrogant.
"You are really ignorant. Can this tardigrade really survive in outer space?" Sun Zhongyong murmured and looked at Li Xiaosong.
Li Xiaosong nodded in confirmation. "Tardigrades are truly capable of surviving in the outer space environment."