--- title: "Scientists Find Building Blocks of Life on Saturn’s Icy Moon" description: "A team of researchers found traces of organic compounds in plumes that burst from Saturn's moon Enceladus. A sign of life if all the conditions are right." date: "2019-10-02" modified: "2019-10-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-building-blocks-life-icy-moon" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" tags: - "Cassini" - "enceladus" - "NASA" - "saturn" - "the digest" --- # Scientists Find Building Blocks of Life on Saturn’s Icy Moon ![A team of researchers found traces of organic compounds in plumes that burst from Saturn's moon Enceladus. A sign of life if all the conditions are right.]() *\Image: NASA/Victor Tangermann\* ## Building Blocks Scientists have been sifting through the mountain of data collected during NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn and its satellites. And now, a team of researchers from the Free University of Berlin have found something in the data that could point toward the existence of life on Saturn's icy moon Enceladus: traces of organic compounds, in plumes that burst from the moon's surface, that appear to be the building blocks of amino acids, the precursors of Earth-based lifeforms. "If the conditions are right, these molecules coming from the deep ocean of Enceladus could be on the same reaction pathway as we see here on Earth," said team lead Nozair Khawaja in [a statement](). "We don't yet know if amino acids are needed for life beyond Earth, but finding the molecules that form amino acids is an important piece of the puzzle." ## Vapor Wave The plumes are ejected from Enceladus' surface after mixing with water from the moon's giant subsurface ocean. The material is then ejected as water vapor and ice grains. From space, NASA's Cassini spacecraft was able to analyze them using its onboard mass spectrometer. The news comes after a different team of researchers [suggested]() in 2018 that complex organic molecules are floating on the surface of Enceladus' massive subsurface ocean. In June, a team from the University of Washington [also found]() the ocean to be nutrient-rich and suitable for harboring life. **READ MORE:** [New organic compounds found in Enceladus ice grains]() \[Jet Propulsion Lab\] **More on Enceladus:** *[One of Saturn’s Moons Has Everything Needed to Host Life]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()