One of the things the probe will hopefully find out when it lands on Titan
on Jan.14, 2005, is whether the atmospheric methane of Titan is supplied
by oceans of liquid methane. It is, of course, sldo conceivable that it is
produced by methanogenic bacteria, but no one expects there to be life in
such a cold climate.

I have a friend who occasionally buys a lottery ticket and, until he
actually gets around to finding out whether it is a winner, enjoys
the fantasy that he won $300,000,000. In a similar spirit, I'm going
to assume that Titan's atmospheric methane is produced by methanogenic
bacteria until the reports come back on Jan.14 that the probe landed
in a pool of liquid methane.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.