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By Annabelle Yao
The Lawrenceville School
Since I was a young child, one of my many fantasies was to swim in a soda ocean. Just imagining the endless supply of Coca Cola, Pepsi, Sprite, etc. would make my day. Well, who wouldn’t want to experience playing in the fizziness of a soda ocean? Now, thanks to NASA’s tiredless exploration, my fantasy may soon become a reality.
Soda Oceans containing Phosphates found on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus. (“A ‘Soda Ocean’ on a Moon of Saturn Has All the Ingredients for Life,” 2024)
A few days ago, a ‘Soda Ocean’ was identified on Enceladus, a Moon of Saturn. The “scientists discovered the presence of phosphates” in high concentrations in the frozen oceans. Phosphates, which can appear as Phosphorus, are commonly used in soda to increase shelf-life. More importantly, however, it is one of the essential elements that sustain life on Earth.
With the discovery of phosphates on Enceladus on top of “carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur,” we find that this moon actually contains all the necessary components of life, deeming Enceladus habitable, and a potential home to extraterrestrial life. There have been no definite signs of life yet, but who knows? Maybe one day, we’ll find other life, or even ourselves, roaming the icy surface of Enceladus or floating around in the soda oceans we used to dream about.
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A “Soda Ocean” on a Moon of Saturn Has All the Ingredients for Life. (2024). The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/science/enceladus-phosphorus-life.html
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