Dwarf Planet Ceres May Have Been Habitable – for Microbes – C0.5-2b Years Ago
Posted5 months agoActive5 months ago
theregister.comSciencestory
calmpositive
Debate
20/100
CeresAstrobiologyPlanetary Science
Key topics
Ceres
Astrobiology
Planetary Science
Discussion about the possibility of Ceres being habitable for microbes in the past.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Light discussionFirst comment
11m
Peak period
1
0-1h
Avg / period
1
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Aug 22, 2025 at 10:40 AM EDT
5 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Aug 22, 2025 at 10:50 AM EDT
11m after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
1 comments in 0-1h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Aug 22, 2025 at 10:50 AM EDT
5 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 44985240Type: storyLast synced: 11/18/2025, 1:47:33 AM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
You certainly can run an ecology on chemical potentials
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent
and it's possible that terrestrial life started in such a place but not so clear you can get a tall enough trophic hierarchy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_web
to get higher forms of life and intelligence. Still I think about what happens if an ice dweller manages to drill their way up to the surface and see the stars.