article_snippet: Specifically, scientists looked at Saturn’s moon Titan, which has seas of liquid methane rather than water, and scientists it could harbour methane-based, oxygen-free forms of life.
article_snippet: Called an azotosome, Cornell University scientists in New York would survive on liquid methane rather than
article_snippet: Cornell University scientists in New York could live on Titan.
article_snippet: The life they propose, called an azotosome, would be composed of small organic nitrogen compounds and be capable of functioning in liquid methane temperatures of -180°C (-292°F).
article_snippet: But if cells could be based on methane, rather than water, cells could survive in much colder climates, as methane has a much lower melting point.
article_snippet: The life proposed by the scientists would be composed of small organic nitrogen compounds and be capable of functioning in liquid methane temperatures of -180°C (-292°F).
article_snippet: The theoretical azotosome life form is made from nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen molecules - all of which are known to exist in the cryogenic seas of Titan.
article_snippet: Dr Paulette Clancy said the the next step is to try and demonstrate how the cells would behave in the methane environment.
article_snippet: This includes how the cells might reproduce and metabolise with the cells oxygen-free, methane-based cells.
article_snippet: From left to right are graduate student James Stevenson, astronomer Jonathan Lunine and chemical engineer Paulette Clancy, with a Cassini image of Titan in the foreground of Saturn, and an azotosome, the theorized cell membrane on Titan, shown on the right .