Life on Europa

Reading about the possibility of extraterrestrial life existing purely underwater (December, p58) got me thinking about what kind of intelligent life could evolve in a world that was fully submerged. Sure, there could be fish-like and crab-like creatures, but could intelligence ever go much further than that? Would an underwater world ever warrant the use of tools? Fire seemed necessary for many of our accomplishments, and this would be out of the question. Even simple things, like a wheel, led to the invention of complex mechanical systems. However, there would be little use for a wheel in the ocean, so that entire line of innovation would be obsolete. The shark has changed very little in hundreds of millions of years, so it’s possible that this is the best we could ever expect.

I’m sure if we do find life on Europa it would be microbial at best, but it’s fun to imagine what beasts could be lurking there. Pad Scanlon, London