Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus just became more interesting in the search for alien life. Two studies published on September 25 show the moon may be better equipped for life – and for us to find it – than we thought.

First, scientists re-examined 961 ice grains collected by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. They found the grains were chemically sorted as ocean water froze on its way up through cracks in the ice. This natural sorting could concentrate chemical traces of life into single grains, making them easier for future spacecraft to detect.

Second, a lab team grew an Earth microbe in water matching Enceladus’s ocean. The microbe, found near deep-sea vents, survived extreme alkalinity and very little carbon dioxide – and produced methane. It was an unexpected success.

Neither study finds life on Enceladus. But together, they show a plausible metabolism could work there, and that the moon’s geysers may hand-deliver the evidence. Enceladus hides a global ocean under its ice, with organic compounds and hydrothermal vents already detected.