Scientists simulating meteorite impacts on the frozen oceans of Europa have made an electrifying discovery, which raises the chances of finding life on Jupiter's moon.

Jerome Borucki, at the NASA Ames Research Center in California, and his colleagues fired aluminium bullets into a block of ice. They found that when the bullet impacted, sensors embedded in the ice detected an electric shock. A second, and much larger, electrical discharge was observed a few moments later.

A shell of ice many kilometres thick encases the surface of Europa and scientists speculate that liquid water - and therefore life - might lie beneath. Evidence for the presence of the molecular building blocks for life comes from the yellow-brown stains seen on the ice by the Galileo probe.

"Europa is a high priority target for exploration because the key ingredients for life seem to be there. But even if you have the ingredients, the question is, is there a spark that creates the first organic molecules?" says Ron Greeley, a planetary scientist at the Arizona State University.

Borucki's bullet experiments suggest meteorite impacts might have provided that spark. The electric shock had gone undetected because no-one had put sensors below an impact crater before, he told New Scientist. The team think the current is caused by the movement of protons as the ice cracks.

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