Thankfully, there is still some distance between the 18th expedition robot and the 77th robot. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

By this time, Robot 18 had successfully reached the surface of the submarine volcano, and it was lucky enough to resist the huge water pressure and become the last survivor.

"Quick, quick! Hurry!! ”

Scientists can't wait, racing against the clock, to start maneuvering the robot to take samples of the surrounding seawater and the sediment at the bottom. At the same time, the inspection robot is also always vigilant, observing the surrounding situation in all directions.

No one knows what will happen in the next second in this strange underwater dark world at a depth of 110,000 meters, perhaps it will be overwhelmed by the huge water pressure, or it will be attacked by strange alien creatures.

The No. 18 reconnaissance robot slowly moved forward along the trench, cautiously and slowly on thin ice.

"The water flow ahead is abnormal, and it should be the location of the submarine crater."

"The water temperature continues to rise, and the current average water temperature is 23.8 degrees Celsius."

"The content of sulfide and CH4 is still rising significantly. Robot 18 is approaching the crater hot vent area. ”

"There's definitely a hot spring ecosystem here, and it's probably the birthplace of Europa's life!"

Since there was only one expedition robot left, and the surrounding environment was too harsh, the exploration proceeded very slowly.

This really worries everyone.

"There it is! Pregnant! ”

As Scout Robot 18 approaches the volcanic hydrothermal vent exit, a biome that is both familiar and unfamiliar unfolds unfolds.

Several of the hydrothermal vents explored by Robot 18 are home to a wide range of bizarre creatures, including tube-dwelling worm-like organisms, shell-like mollusks, and many different forms of microorganisms.

Even at the closest point to the vent of the hydrothermal vent, where the temperature was as high as 280 degrees Celsius, Robot 18 discovered an autotrophic microorganism that can obtain energy by using the sulfide spewed from the hydrothermal vent.

"It is the environment in the vicinity of the hydrothermal vent that provides Europa with the energy and matter needed for the emergence of life and the continuation of life thereafter."

"The hydrothermal ecosystem is truly an ideal place for life."

"Europa's oceans do support life, and despite the harsh environment, microbes are tenacious. That said, around the world, creatures like these hydrothermal vents are likely to be the common ancestor of all living creatures on Europa. ”

"However, we have yet to find any suspected high-level creatures that destroyed Robot 77. Aren't there many of them? What is the form of this higher creature, and could it be a vertebrate? ”

"Vertebrates!? I think that's unlikely. As things stand, Europa doesn't have much hope of evolving a higher creature like a vertebrate. Keep in mind that mollusks like jellyfish or squid can also destroy Robot 77. ”

Scientists have their own opinions.

Compared with the Earth, Europa's undersea ecosystem is still at the level of the Cambrian period 500 million years ago.

Since the formation of the earth, geological history can be divided into the following periods: Plutozoic (45-3.8 billion years ago), Archean (38-2.5 billion years ago), Proterozoic (100 million years ago), Paleozoic (500 million years ago), Mesozoic (200 million years ago), Cenozoic (65 million years ago-present).

Among them, the Paleozoic era is subdivided into Cambrian-Ordovician (500 million years ago), Silurian - Devonian (400 million years ago), and Carboniferous-Permian (300 million years ago).

During the Cambrian period of the earth, a large number of invertebrates of various phyla emerged, among which trilobites were the most, accounting for 60% of the total animal kingdom at that time. During the Ordovician period, various phyla of invertebrates had been fully developed, and the oceans were full of life.

However, Europa is very different from Earth in that there is no sunlight, so there is no algae in the interior of its oceans, which are the main organisms that exist in the Proterozoic oceans.

"Because the environment is so harsh compared to the earth, the pace of evolution of Europa's marine life must be extremely slow, and maybe in another billion years, there will be no earth-like vertebrates."

"In the past 400 million years, there have been two major changes in the history of the development of life on Earth." A veteran biologist continues to elaborate on his point, "The first change was when organisms began to move away from the ocean and onshore. The first to land on the earth were green algae, which broke free from the constraints of the water environment and evolved into naked ferns. The second revolution was the evolution of invertebrates into vertebrates, such as the unarmored fishes (not true fish) that appeared in the Silurian period, and the shield fishes and spiny fishes that appeared in the Devonian, which eventually evolved to dominate the waters. ”

......

Far away on Europa, scientific exploration teams and robots in the ocean beneath the ice crust are still at work.

In the command center of the Interstellar Exploration Alliance headquarters, Hara and Durunik have also learned about the latest exploration results, and have received a report on the life of the Ganymede salt lake region.

"Since there is life beneath Europa's ocean. This means that as long as the right conditions are met, the birth of life is a highly probable event in the universe. Humanity is not alone in this universe! Although life forms may be very different from life on Earth, there is certainly a wide variety of life on habitable planets in other galaxies. Durunik said with great certainty.

"One more thing, in terms of microstructure, the cell structure of Europa's lifeforms is completely different from that of Earth! Life is amazing!! ”

"This phenomenon proves that Europa's life was mostly unrelated to the Creator, and perhaps Europa took an incomparably long period of time to finally give birth to the most primitive life system." Yuan inferred, "Judging from Europa's current environment, it is almost impossible for its life system to develop rapidly without the help of external forces and give birth to intelligent life!" ”

"Unlucky Europa!! Bad luck like the earth! "I wonder if Europa's life system will survive a gamma-ray burst." ”

"We can manage to save some of Europa's spark of life and cultivate it in Jupiter's Space City. Maybe they could be sent back to Europa in the future. Yuan Haochen said.

"Haha~, and then the earth civilization will become the savior of Europa!" Durunik laughed happily.

Hara glanced at Durunik, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "Yes, those primordial beings of Europa will definitely not know, our conversation today will determine their future!" ”

"Haha~" Durunik seemed to smile even more heartily.

"Europa still has a future!" Yuan stood up, turned to the front of the screen, and said meaningfully, "In the distant future, when the Sun gradually grows in size and temperature, it becomes a red giant, it will engulf Mercury and Venus, making Earth and Mars barren rock planets unsuitable for life, and cold moons like Europa will become ideal habitable planets for life to survive!" ”

Finally, a word of clarification: how can an expedition robot that obtains biological samples be brought back from under the ice shell? There are many ways to do this: for example, when the Expedition Robot returns to the ice, the Digger digs through the ice shell within a certain area above its head, and then the fountain takes the robot out of the ice. Details like this will not be repeated in the article. Imagine for yourself. (To be continued.) )