Lo importante de Titán es la desaparición del hidrógeno y la desaparición del acetileno porque ese producto químico sería probablemente la mejor fuente de energía para una vida basada en el metano.
One interpretation of the acetylene data is that the hydrocarbon is being consumed as food. But McKay said the flow of hydrogen is even more critical because all of their proposed mechanisms involved the consumption of hydrogen.
"We suggested hydrogen consumption because it's the obvious gas for life to consume on Titan, similar to the way we consume oxygen on Earth," McKay said. "If these signs do turn out to be a sign of life, it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from water-based life on Earth."
Y luego está la comparativa con la Tierra:
To date, methane-based life forms are only hypothetical. Scientists have not yet detected this form of life anywhere, though there are liquid-water-based microbes on Earth that thrive on methane or produce it as a waste product. On Titan, where temperatures are around 90 Kelvin (minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit), a methane-based organism would have to use a substance that is liquid as its medium for living processes, but not water itself. Water is frozen solid on Titan's surface and much too cold to support life as we know it.
A parte encontraron en la superficie gran cantidad de benceno y otro material orgánico desconocido.
Pero, siempre están los peros por el medio, si existiera un catalizador adecuado se podría convertir el hidrógeno y acetileno otra vez en metano, y se explicaría esa desaparición.
Nota: Siempre en estos casos el conservadurismo científico sugiere que una explicación biológica debe ser la última opción después de abordar todas las explicaciones no biológicas
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