News Planetary Science

Cosmic rays could, in theory, sustain life on other worlds

The radiation can break underground water into an ingredient for life-giving energy

Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, covered in ice and fractures that look like veins.

Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, could theoretically harbor underground life sustained by cosmic rays, according to a new study.

JPL/NASA, Space Science Institute

By McKenzie Prillaman

Galactic cosmic rays — high-energy particles from outside the solar system — could theoretically power life on certain frigid worlds. The radiation can trigger chemical reactions underground, whose products might sustain microbes there, researchers report July 28 in the International Journal of Astrobiology.