stars are kinda my thing

“ you’re not even human. you weren’t born. you were built. ”

Iridescent clouds, looking like a rainbow in the clouds.

Yes!! It’s named Europa, and this is what it looks like:

It’s covered in a thick icy crust, but under that crust is a liquid water ocean that spans the whole globe! We have evidence to suggest that this ocean is heated by volcanic hydrothermal vents at the bottom of its ocean. 

Europa is a favorite when talking about the possibility for life elsewhere in our solar system. On Earth, hydrothermal vents support thriving ecosystems, and the same could be true on Europa! Of course, penetrating that icy crust to study this ocean might be a challenge. 

NASA is currently planning a orbiter-lander mission to Europa, called the Europa Clipper, which will launch sometime in the 2020′s. 

Jupiter’s moons Ganymede and Callisto may also have subsurface oceans. Enceladus, Saturn’s moon, also has oceans! Enceladus is fun because it has active geysers all over the place. We even shot the Cassini probe through one of its geyser plumes once!! Doing so showed us that the ocean there does contain some elements that are helpful to life forming, but we still need to know more. 

Saturn’s moon Titan has oceans too, but here’s the cool bit!! It has lots of surface-level lakes and seas, but they’re not water. They’re liquid hydrocarbons!! Like the gas you light a grill with, but liquid, and there’s a lake of it. Titan’s a crazy place. But there might also be water oceans under the surface there, too.

Saturn’s moon Mimas might have oceans, but they’d have to be really far underground. Neptune’s moon Triton probably has oceans too!!

Also Pluto very probably has underground oceans.

Saturn’s Moon, Enceladus, Is Our Closest Great Hope For Life Beyond Earth

“Cassini provided scientists with a wealth of data about Enceladus’ surface and the composition of its powerful plumes. This data showed evidence of a deep saltwater ocean with an energy source beneath Enceladus’ surface. The presence of water, warmth, and organic molecules are the necessary requirements for sustaining life as we know it. Water is proven to exist, while the tidal forces from Saturn provide the necessary heat. Based on observations of other bodies in the Solar System, Enceladus likely contains the raw ingredients for life as well. The suspected existence of all three hints at the possible presence of the precursors to amino acids in this vast subsurface ocean. Should we find extraterrestrial life on Enceladus – or in the geyser-like plumes erupting into space – the implications are almost incomprehensible.”

When you think about life beyond Earth, you likely think of it occurring on a somewhat Earth-like planet. A rocky world, with either a past or present liquid ocean atop the surface, seems ideal. But that might not even be where life on Earth originated! Deep beneath the Earth’s surface, geologically active hydrothermal vents currently support diverse colonies of life without any energy from the Sun. Saturn’s icy moon, Enceladus, has a subsurface ocean unlike any other world we’ve yet discovered. The tidal forces of Saturn itself provide the necessary heat, and also create cracks in the Enceladean surface, enabling massive geysers. This subsurface ocean rises hundreds of kilometers high, regularly resurfaces the world with a coat of fresh ice, and even creates the E-ring of Saturn. But most spectacularly, it may house actively living organisms, and could be the next-best world for life, after Earth, in the Solar System today.

So, today, a woman came into our shop. It was a woman I’ve only heard my parents refer to as ‘the Deaf Lady’. My mum had told her about me, explained that I was doing Sign Language, and come to find me on a day she knew I was working.

But today, she didn’t need her lawnmower repaired. In fact, she hadn’t touched it since it had been, and as far as she knew everything was fine.

She’d come in to sign to me.

She waved hello, and instantly explained that my mum had told her I would be in today. I asked her how she was, and the smile that she had on her face was the biggest I’ve ever seen.

And we spent about an hour in my family’s little shop, talking about everything. She told me about her life, about how she’d lived in the same house for 60 years.

She’d been born deaf, and been a Brownie, but never a Guide, because of the War… she’s now 86.

She had some amazing stories to tell, and twice she cried. One of those times was remembering her youth, and the other was when she was explaining to me that her husband had died around 20 years ago, and how he’d been the last person she’d known that could communicate with her.

She’s been alone for 20 years, living in a silent world, unable to communicate with anyone for the most part. The most interaction she has is when she writes things down for people, but she’s struggled to make any recent friends, and her family is long gone.

Now someone explain to me what’s wrong with every school teaching a certain amount of Sign Language, and for colleges to offer it more freely and frequently. People should be encouraged to learn BSL, because otherwise we’re cutting ourselves off from talking to around 8 million people or so (in the UK alone).

That’s millions of people who are no less important than you are, who have their own stories to tell, and the same need for communication as anyone else on this tiny little planet.

J. cried today because it was the first time for a long time that anyone has asked her for her name, or listened to her stories.