Massive hydrocarbon reserves found on Titan

[KD5NRH]

You could have internal combustion aircraft or vehicles, even generators on Titan, but you'd need an oxygen tank, but no fuel tank.

I seem to remember that being an interesting observation in Camelot 30K; given the hydrogen atmosphere and ground made of frozen methane, oxygen (liquid at the ambient temperature) was treated as fuel.

[AJ Dual]

So people are just now noticing what astrophysicists have known for decades? Methane in both liquid and gaseous forms on other moons and worlds is not exactly new knowledge.

Brad

Pretty much this.  Someone writes an article regurgitating known info, and it just gets injected into the news cycle, magnified by social media.  They were guessing there was "water" of liquid ethane on Titan since before Cassini radar-mapped it. All those Don Dixon space paintings of lakes on Titan with Saturn in the background etc. from the 1980's.

[K Frame]

Same thing in the Mote in God's Eye. They talk about a methane moon (IIRC) being a refueling station for the ships.

[Jamisjockey]

They keep finding oil deeper and deeper.  At what point can we no longer say it was from dinosaurs?

That's such an unscientific oversimplification of the "fossil fuel" theory that it's borderline ludicrous.

[KD5NRH]

The old saw about oil being liquified dinosaurs is kind of... overwrought, as well. Oil deposits, if they truly are "fossil" fuels, almost certainly derived from plant material, not huge concentrations of dinosaurs.

Oh sure, now plants somehow traveled the stars.

You want to tell me how a ficus could even steer a starship, let alone build one capable of starting colonies on Titan and carrying more of them out beyond the solar system to become the interstellar benzene?

[MechAg94]

That's such an unscientific oversimplification of the "fossil fuel" theory that it's borderline ludicrous.

Yeah, okay, whatever.  Stop taking it so seriously.   

[K Frame]

Plants used to be super intelligent.

Then they just started vegging out...

[Fly320s]

Plants used to be super intelligent.

Then they just started vegging out...

*Groan*