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The Huygens lander has thus far found no biological process, though it has found the suspected constituents, and more. But gas-chromatograph mass spectrophotometric findings have also shown that the bulk of the methane on Titan is actually ¹³C methane--not the ¹²C methane that one would normally expect from biological processes.<ref name=Goddard>"[http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=18410 Titan's Mysterious Methane Comes From Inside, Not The Surface]." Press release, [[Goddard Space Flight Center]], [[NASA]], November 30, 2005. Accessed February 16, 2008, from <http://www.spaceref.com/></ref> Scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center conclude that this methane is vented to the surface from a supply that was somehow trapped deep beneath the surface when Titan was formed. Furthermore, this lends further support to Thomas Gold's 1998 hypothesis that Earth's own supplies of oil and natural gas are in fact abiotic in origin.<ref name=Corsi2>"[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47675 'Fossil fuel' theory takes hit with NASA finding]." ''WorldNetDaily'', December 1, 2005. Accessed February 16, 2008.</ref>

The Huygens lander has thus far found no biological process, though it has found the suspected constituents, and more. But gas-chromatograph mass spectrophotometric findings have also shown that the bulk of the methane on Titan is actually ¹³C methane--not the ¹²C methane that one would normally expect from biological processes.<ref name=Goddard>"[http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=18410 Titan's Mysterious Methane Comes From Inside, Not The Surface]." Press release, [[Goddard Space Flight Center]], [[NASA]], November 30, 2005. Accessed February 16, 2008, from <http://www.spaceref.com/></ref> Scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center conclude that this methane is vented to the surface from a supply that was somehow trapped deep beneath the surface when Titan was formed. Furthermore, this lends further support to Thomas Gold's 1998 hypothesis that Earth's own supplies of oil and natural gas are in fact abiotic in origin.<ref name=Corsi2>"[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47675 'Fossil fuel' theory takes hit with NASA finding]." ''WorldNetDaily'', December 1, 2005. Accessed February 16, 2008.</ref>

This latest finding militates against the speculation that life might exist on Titan. Many scientists believe that Titan's chemistry and physical features are of a type that could have given rise to the earliest chemicals required for [[life]], had Titan been much closer to the [[Sun]] than it actually is. That speculation predates the Cassini-Huygens mission and includes a model suggesting that Titan harbored a vast underground reservoir of [[ammonia]] solution.<ref name=Fortes>Fortes, A. B. "[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WGF-45FC0TP-26&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=aa73d6642eb13527397bbec9ff9ca535 Exobiological Implications of a Possible Water-Ammonia Ocean Inside Titan]." ''Icarus'', 146(2):444-452, August 2000. {{doi|0.1006/icar.2000.6400}} Accessed February 16, 2008. [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6WGF-45FC0TP-26-1&_cdi=6821&_user=10&_orig=search&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2000&_sk=998539997&view=c&wchp=dGLbVlb-zSkWz&md5=644f3640a5d78afc50f8e4e50a4a09d2&ie=/sdarticle.pdf Full text] available to subscribers or for a fee.</ref> That particular model depended on the methane and the cyanide being biogenic, but as has been noted above, the methane certainly is ''not'' biogenic.

This latest finding militates against the speculation that life might exist on Titan. Many scientists believe that Titan's chemistry and physical features are of a type that could have given rise to the earliest chemicals required for [[life]], had Titan been much closer to the [[Sun]] than it actually is. That speculation predates the Cassini-Huygens mission and includes a model suggesting that Titan harbored a vast underground reservoir of [[ammonia]] solution.<ref name=Fortes>Fortes, A. B. "[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WGF-45FC0TP-26&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=aa73d6642eb13527397bbec9ff9ca535 Exobiological Implications of a Possible Water-Ammonia Ocean Inside Titan]." ''Icarus'', 146(2):444-452, August 2000. {{doi|10.1006/icar.2000.6400}} Accessed February 16, 2008. [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6WGF-45FC0TP-26-1&_cdi=6821&_user=10&_orig=search&_coverDate=08%2F31%2F2000&_sk=998539997&view=c&wchp=dGLbVlb-zSkWz&md5=644f3640a5d78afc50f8e4e50a4a09d2&ie=/sdarticle.pdf Full text] available to subscribers or for a fee.</ref> That particular model depended on the methane and the cyanide being biogenic, but as has been noted above, the methane certainly is ''not'' biogenic.

== Possible Subsurface Ammonia Ocean ==

== Possible Subsurface Ammonia Ocean ==