At first glance, Enceladus doesn't look like much — just a scuffed up, icy white ball that spins around the planet Saturn. Yet a recent study in the journal Nature revealed quite significant evidence for life on the distant moon. Using archival data from a past NASA mission, scientists analyzed a watery plume shot into space from Enceladus' southern hemisphere, revealing traces of phosphorus.
For people who think of phosphorus as nothing more than a white powder used to make certain types of explosives, this news may seem unimpressive. Yet scientists consider phosphorus to be one of the essential building blocks of life.
