New Simulations Challenge the Search for Life on Europa

Europa’s hidden ocean may be even more isolated than scientists expected. New simulations suggest that turbulent water inside cracks in the moon’s thick ice freezes too quickly to reach the surface, meaning future missions could find only shallow melt pockets instead of direct samples from the deep ocean.

The discovery raises new questions about how Europa Clipper and JUICE will search for signs of habitability beneath the ice.

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