8 Expert Theories About Our Future In Space

2. Enceladus's Hydrothermal Vents Could Revolutionize The Search For Extraterrestrial Life

In order to look outwards, sometimes you have to look inwards. Don't worry, we haven't suddenly taken to navel gazing, we mean that the clues to alien life could be found in some of the Earth's most inhospitable habitats.

Nearly a kilometre beneath the ocean's surface, is a thriving ecosystem that is completely cut off from the sun's life-giving energy. Hydrothermal vents deposit minerals that form towering structures as tall as buildings, and complex life flourishes around them despite their isolation.

Although there are few places in the solar system where life could survive, the surprisingly cosy environment of Earth's sea floor could give us clues as to how and where life could form in other ways. It's possible that the Saturnian moon, Enceladus, and the Jovian moon, Europa, could feature a similar environments beneath their icy surfaces, could it also harbour life in the same way too?