Because Of Pluto’s Ocean It Cannot Host Life Forms?

Known for its icy terrain, Pluto is also hiding a big secret -- it is not actually all ice. In fact, on the dwarf planet lays a vast ocean of water that is about 75 percent of the Earth's liquid volume.

With the help of data from the July 2015 flyby of the New Horizons spacecraft, researchers discovered that Pluto has a presumable ocean. But just because it has water, it does not mean that Pluto can host life forms.

Steven Vance, an astrobiologist and geophysicist at NASA, previously reckoned that Pluto's ocean may contain more complex molecules like alcohols and hydrocarbons that are abundant on the planet, but that they could act as an antifreeze. Thus, this explains why its frigid, freezing waters are more slushy than liquid.

Bill McKinnon, one of the authors of the latest study published in Nature, noted that the waters could also be laced with noxious chemicals found on window cleaners -- ammonia. While nobody knows how much ammonia the planet's waters contain, a mixture ranging from 10 to 35 percent ammonia can cause severe burns, blisters and severe scarring, as noted by Business Insider. Swallowing the chemical can also trigger vomiting, diarrhea and even death. With such toxicity, McKinnon reckons life just cannot exist on Pluto, adding that it is no place for germs, much less for any other living organism like fish or squids.

But what made scientists think that a vast ocean is hiding somewhere in Pluto? According to Science Alert, the answer is in Sputnik Planitia -- the heart-shaped region -- which is basically a hole in the ground. Pluto's relationship with its moon, Charon, cannot be explained if the planet was solid all the way.

Vance noted, "A subsurface liquid ocean makes sense, given nitrogen's insulating properties." That being said, one simply cannot take a drink, or even swim, in the vast ocean of Pluto.