| Project Title: | Alien Life on Europa |
|---|---|
| Contributor: | Kat Drumright |
Europa, a moon of Jupiter, may seem inhospitable to life with its thin atmosphere, kilometers thick icy crust, and lightless subsurface ocean. However, the dark ocean beneath the ice may be active with geological processes, giving rise to an analog of Earth’s hydrothermal vents and their flourishing ecosystems. Due to high pressures at the depths of Europa’s oceans and the complete lack of light, animal-like organisms may exhibit convergent evolution toward similar features to life in Earth’s deep ocean. However, being from a completely separate origin, it is difficult to guess just how much convergent evolution would lead to familiar forms. So, taking some inspiration from Earthly life such as siphonophores, this piece uses knowledge of biology, chemistry, and physics, merged with imagination and creativity to design a realistic Europan life form.
The first piece shows variations between individual colonies, which would be versatile to better adapt to a varied or changing environment. Each one is made up of numerous individual organisms, combined like organs or limbs to form the overall colony. The second piece shows the life cycle of a colony–the independent origin and development of larvae contribute to the versatility of the overall colony through the increased pool of information they carry within their diverse genetic material. Both pieces work in tandem to show a brief highlight of the speculative biology of this hypothetical Europan organism, truly putting the “science” in science-fiction.
