>IANAC, but I don't think that "organic" necessarily means "from life", >but means chemicals based on Carbon.
Organic usually means related to life. The word Organic is also used to describe a branch of chemistry which deals with carbon-related compounds. (Coal is made of complex organics, Diamond is a crystal of a single element, and is not a compound at all.) Exploiting the hydrocarbons on Titan is about as economically feasible as walking to Nigeria every time you want a candy bar. It isn't. There is no oxygen about, so you you'd need to bring it with you -- or else haul these hydrocarbons all the way back to earth. Not to mention the environmental catastrophes that would be caused if we tried to burn this stuff in our atmosphere. Burning our own oil has been proven to be quite bad enough, without importing thousands of times more from distant planets. The origin of these organic compounds is not fully understood. There are some chemical reactions that occur naturally in the presence of ultraviolet radiation and/or other wavelengths, that turn simple organic molecules into more complex ones. It could be that something like this is happening. Or it could be that there is indeed some kind of life on the surface there. I don't know what IANAC means either, but I got a chuckle from "I Am Not A Crook!" Curtis. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
