[NAEP] The exciting and the sobering

[Dawn Wiseman]

While science has its limits, when properly applied it can provide 
news that is unbelievably exciting - or sobering. Yesterday's 
headlines contained 1 of each.

EXCITING
Water may spew from moon of Saturn, astronomers say
Saturn, the 6th planet from the sun, is 1.5 billion km , or almost 
ten times the distance of Earth from its light and heat.  It is a 
dark, and cold, cold place. So imagine how surprised scientists were 
when they discovered that one of its moons, Enceladus, is showing 
signs of spewing liquid water geysers a bit like those in Yellowstone 
Park.

Enceladus, is a small icy moon, about 500km in diameter. It is only 
one of dozens of moons orbiting the giant Saturn. Now scientists 
think, Enceladus, has water close to its surface. High-resolution 
images from the Cassini space craft show icy jets and towering plumes 
ejecting large quantities of particles at high speed from the moon's 
surface. These plumes indicate the presence of heat, and volcanic 
activity on the moon.

So what's the big deal? Well, before the images from Cassini arrived 
back on Earth, volcanism was only known to occur in 3 places in the 
solar system: here on Earth, on Jupiter's moon Io, and possibly on 
Neptune's moon, Triton. The presence of heat and water together may 
indicate the potential for some form of life (if it exists at all, 
probably very tiny, microbial life) on Enceladus. While it will take 
lots of time before we ever find out if life exists on the moon, 
scientists   have lots of new questions to consider: Why is Enceladus 
currently so active? Are other sites on Enceladus active? Might this 
activity have been continuous enough over the moon's history for life 
to have had a chance to take hold in the moon's interior? And, 
perhaps, most importantly, where is the heat that's fueling the 
volcanism coming from on a tiny moon so far from the sun.

They will get more evidence in the spring of 2008, when Cassini get 
close to Enceladus again. In the meantime, they're looking forward to 
mining the data they have so far. As one of them said on the CTV news 
last night, "As a scientist, this is the kind of discovery you live 
for."


Cassini-Huygens Mission
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm

Jet Propulsion Laboratory
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/solar_system/

CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2006/03/09/saturn-moon060309.html

Science
http://www.sciencemag.org/

CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/03/09/cassini.enceladus/index.html

BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4790126.stm



SOBERING
The Bering Sea covers more than 700,000 square miles and is 
demarcated from the North Pacific Ocean by the Alaska Peninsula and 
Aleutian Islands. The sea is considered one of the world's most 
productive fisheries; its northern portions house sea ducks, gray 
whales, bearded seals and walruses, all of which feed on cold-water 
critters.

But  warming temperatures of recent years have caused the environment 
to change from Arctic to sub-Arctic conditions in the region and have 
created an inviting haven for animals that were previously confined 
to the warmer waters of the south.

These warmer waters are bad news for animals adapted to cold-water 
environments, however. These creatures have to move north in search 
of cooler waters, which in turn is causing problems for people who 
live off of them.

Live Science
http://www.livescience.com/environment/060309_bering_sea.html

Dramatic ecosystem shift threatens fishing and livelihood of Arctic dwellers
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/story.html?id=4fee0979-441b-45ca-a1cb-e1b21324720e&k=21164

NOAA
http://www.beringclimate.noaa.gov/bering_status_overview.html