Exciting news for the potential habitability of Enceladus! A study zooms in on Cassini mission data gathered at Saturn’s icy moon and finds confirming evidence of hydrogen cyanide, a molecule needed to spark life as we know it and a supercharged chemical energy source to fuel it.

More evidence for habitability on Enceladus 🪐 A study using data from NASA’s Cassini mission has found evidence of a key ingredient for life – and a powerful source of chemical energy to fuel it – on Saturn’s icy moon. What this means: go.nasa.gov/471X1g1

Scientists have detected a poison among the spray of molecules emanating from Enceladus, a small moon of Saturn, adding to intrigue about the possibility of life there. “It’s the starting point for most theories on the origin of life,” one researcher said. nyti.ms/4adajsO

An information-theory-inspired analysis of Cassini mass spec data reveals the presence of HCN and partially oxidized organics within the plume of Enceladus. Ongoing redox chemistry may suggest a habitable environment suitable for life. Jonah S. Peter et al.: nature.com/articles/s4155…

And Jonah will be giving an invited talk on this work at AGU (American Geophysical Union) in roughly an hour...

New evidence discovered that Saturn's moon could support life trib.al/HV1ZG0Q

Molecules in Enceladus’s icy plumes suggest that alien life could exist in our solar system trib.al/FMPqUPK

Harvard PhD student Jonah Peter, part of NASA's Cassini mission, contributes to groundbreaking research on Saturn's moon Enceladus! The presence of hydrogen cyanide in the plumes sparks new possibilities in the quest for the origin of life 🌌🔬buff.ly/48l3fso #HarvardPhD

Caught up with the Harvard University gazette to discuss my recent work with NASA JPL Kevin Peter Hand and Tom Nordheim on the search for life in the outer solar system! #TikTok tiktok.com/t/ZT8ExUdgS/

Chirality dependent photon transport and helical superradiance, Jonah S. Peter, Stefan Ostermann, and Susanne F. Yelin Jonah S. Peter #Optics #Quantum go.aps.org/3WNkikr