Potential sign of alien life detected on inhospitable Venus

petros

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists said on Monday they have detected in the harshly acidic clouds of Venus a gas called phosphine that indicates microbes may inhabit Earth's inhospitable neighbor, a tantalizing sign of potential life beyond Earth.

The researchers did not discover actual life forms, but noted that on Earth phosphine is produced by bacteria thriving in oxygen-starved environments. The international scientific team first spotted the phosphine using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii and confirmed it using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope in Chile.

"I was very surprised - stunned, in fact," said astronomer Jane Greaves of Cardiff University in Wales, lead author of the research published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

The existence of extraterrestrial life long has been one of the paramount questions of science. Scientists have used probes and telescopes to seek "biosignatures" - indirect signs of life - on other planets and moons in our solar system and beyond.

"With what we currently know of Venus, the most plausible explanation for phosphine, as fantastical as it might sound, is life," said Massachusetts Institute of Technology molecular astrophysicist and study co-author Clara Sousa-Silva.

"I should emphasize that life, as an explanation for our discovery, should be, as always, the last resort," Sousa-Silva added. "This is important because, if it is phosphine, and if it is life, it means that we are not alone. It also means that life itself must be very common, and there must be many other inhabited planets throughout our galaxy."

Venus has not been the focus of the search for life elsewhere in the solar system, with Mars and other worlds getting more attention.

Phosphine - a phosphorus atom with three hydrogen atoms attached - is highly toxic to people.

Earth-based telescopes like those used in this research help scientists study the chemistry and other characteristics of celestial objects.

More:

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN2652GO
 

petros

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Venus Is a ‘Russian Planet,’ Roscosmos Chief Says

Dmitry RogozinAnton Kardashov / Moskva News Agency

Venus is a “Russian planet,” the head of Russia’s state space agency said Tuesday following new research that suggests there could be life on the second planet from the sun.

The research, published in the journal Nature Astronomy on Monday, details British and American scientists’ discovery of phosphine gas in Venus’ clouds and puts forward possible theories for its origin, including that of extraterrestrial life.

I always thought Mars was the Red planet
 

taxslave

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Venus Is a ‘Russian Planet,’ Roscosmos Chief Says
Dmitry RogozinAnton Kardashov / Moskva News Agency
Venus is a “Russian planet,” the head of Russia’s state space agency said Tuesday following new research that suggests there could be life on the second planet from the sun.
The research, published in the journal Nature Astronomy on Monday, details British and American scientists’ discovery of phosphine gas in Venus’ clouds and puts forward possible theories for its origin, including that of extraterrestrial life.
I always thought Mars was the Red planet
Can they supply a picture of their flag on Venus? And a sales agreement from the current inhabitants?
 

Jinentonix

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Life is probably ubiquitous throughout the universe. Venus could have held primordial life in it's early days, like Mars likely did, before it turned into hellish nightmare.
The going theory for Earth is that comets likely delivered many of the elements and compounds needed to create life. And since Earth isn't the only terrestrial planet in our solar system, it would seem like a given that comets would have delivered the same type of materials to Mars and Venus as well.