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.

Phosphine was seen at 20 parts-per-billion in the Venusian atmosphere, a trace concentration.

Greaves said the researchers examined potential non-biological sources such as volcanism, meteorites, lightning and various types of chemical reactions, but none appeared viable.

The research continues to either confirm the presence of life or find an alternative explanation.

Venus is Earth's closest planetary neighbor. Similar in structure but slightly smaller than Earth, it is the second planet from the sun. Earth is the third.

Venus is wrapped in a thick, toxic atmosphere that traps in heat. Surface temperatures reach a scorching 880 degrees Fahrenheit (471 degrees Celsius), hot enough to melt lead.

"I can only speculate on what life might survive on Venus, if indeed it is there. No life would be able to survive on the surface of Venus, because it is completely inhospitable, even for biochemistries completely different from ours," Sousa-Silva said.

"But a long time ago, Venus could have had life on its surface, before a runaway greenhouse effect left the majority of the planet completely uninhabitable."

THE ACID TEST

Some scientists have suspected that the Venusian high clouds, with mild temperatures around 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius), could harbor aerial microbes that could endure extreme acidity.

These clouds are around 90% sulphuric acid. Earth microbes could not survive that acidity.

"If it's microorganisms, they would have access to some sunlight and water, and maybe live in liquid droplets to stop themselves dehydrating, but they would need some unknown mechanism to protect against corrosion by acid," Greaves said.

On Earth, microorganisms in "anaerobic" environments - ecosystems that do not rely on oxygen - produce phosphine.

These include sewage plants, swamps, rice fields, marshlands, lake sediments and the excrements and intestinal tracts of many animals. Phosphine also arises non-biologically in certain industrial settings.

To produce phosphine, Earth bacteria take up phosphate from minerals or biological material and add hydrogen.

"We have done our very best to explain this discovery without the need for a biological process. With our current knowledge of phosphine, and Venus, and geochemistry, we cannot explain the presence of phosphine in the clouds of Venus.

That doesn't mean it is life. It just means that some exotic process is producing phosphine, and our understanding of Venus needs work," Sousa-Silva said.

Venus should be hostile to phosphine. Its surface and atmosphere are rich in oxygen compounds that would rapidly react with and destroy phosphine.

"Something must be creating the phosphine on Venus as fast as it is being destroyed," said study co-author Anita Richards, an astrophysicist associated with the University of Manchester in England.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on Twitter called the new findings "the most significant development yet in building the case for life off Earth."

Among missions that the U.S. space agency is currently considering is one that would send an atmospheric probe to Venus.

"It's time to prioritize Venus," Bridenstine wrote.

While previous robotic spacecraft have visited Venus, a new probe may be needed to confirm life.

"Fortunately, Venus is right next door," Sousa-Silva said. "So we can literally go and check."

Source: https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN2652GO
Cc: UjSizzle, mkmyers45

Earth Don cast reach so?

Why try to probe outer planets when little is known about ours

fotadmowmend:
Why try to probe outer planets when little is known about ours

we are trying to keep our specie from going extinct. After the sun becomes a red giant, our planet (earth) would be swallowed.

To keep our specie from going extinct we have to move on to other planets probably like one of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. We are sure this can hold life. When the sun becomes a white dwarf, it’s heat would not be enough to power our new found planet meaning we’d have to go to another solar system or at worst another galaxy

hakeem4:
we are trying to keep our specie from going extinct. After the sun becomes a red giant, our planet (earth) would be swallowed.

To keep our specie from going extinct we have to move on to other planets probably like one of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. We are sure this can hold life. When the sun becomes a white dwarf, it’s heat would not be enough to power our new found planet meaning we’d have to go to another solar system or at worst another galaxy

Someone mentioned my name... Good point here but the question is will humanity exist in the next 5 billion years or thereabout. Billion is a big number can we even survive the next few millions before going into extinction by numerous potential agents like nuclear weapon war, AI attack, asteroid impact that could make o2 unbreathable e.t.c
And the sun's intensity won't really matter then because if we could till then we would have evolved greatly on the kardashev scale and probably become a type III civilization and harness energy from the entirety of milky way, but can we reach 5 billion years?

Enceladus:
can we reach 5 billion years?

On this planet or on this solar system? I doubt that.

Our Sun, scientists say, will run out of fuel in about 5 billion years.

The sun is what sustains life on any planet and solar system.

And it's mainly the death of the sun, and maybe massive asteroid collision with the earth, that can bring an end to the planet and lead to extinction of life on earth.

The Age of Scientific Enlightenment isn't up to 1000 years, and yet many key advances have been recorded by scientists and engineers in many areas, including space exploration.

By the time it clocks 1000, I feel humanity will have recorded several other breakthroughs in space travel and space colonization.

When Scientific Age gets to 2000 years, humanity should have colonized other planets in other solar systems/galaxies and achieved interstellar travels.

That objective is one of the primary reasons why top nations in the world spend billions of dollars on space research and space exploration — to explore space and establish a colony in habitable planets to preserve humanity in case of unforeseen dangers to planet Earth.

gensteejay:

On this planet or on this solar system? I doubt that.

Our Sun, scientist say, will run out of fuel in about 5 billion years.

The sun is what sustains life on any planet and solar system.

And it's mainly the death of the sun, and maybe massive asteroid collision with the earth, that can bring an end to the planet and lead to extinction of life on earth.

The Age of Scientific Enlightenment isn't up to 1000 years, and yet many key advances have been recorded by scientists and engineers in many areas, including space exploration.

By the time it clocks 1000, I feel humanity will have recorded several other breakthroughs in space travel and space colonization.

When Scientific Age gets to 2000 years, humanity should have colonized other planets in other solar systems and galaxies and achieved interstellar travels.

That objective is one of the primary reasons why top nations in the world spend billions of dollars on space research and space exploration — to explore space and establish a colony in habitable planets to preserve humanity in case of unforeseen dangers to planet Earth.

I agree with the first bolded. So many things against our survival on earth with our rate of ozone layer depletion we might turn to mars in less than the earth's expiry date.

And I don't think we will colonize any galaxy in the next few thousands of years because even the closest to us will take 25000 years if we are traveling at the speed of light which is impossible e=mc2 unless we can break the laws of physics or discover something like a wormhole which I don't think we will. But the future definitely sounds exciting.

Enceladus:


I agree with the first bolded. So many things against our survival on earth with our rate of ozone layer depletion we might turn to mars in less than the earth's expiry date.

And I don't think we will colonize any galaxy in the next few thousands of years because even the closest to us will take 25000 years if we are traveling at the speed of light which is impossible e=mc2 unless we can break the laws of physics or discover something like a wormhole which I don't think we will. But the future definitely sounds exciting.

About colonizing a galaxy, that's a long shot.

Maybe colonizing a planet looks more plausible, at least for a start.

Well am waiting for when asteroid crash and destroy maybe china, then maybe the world will be united in space exploration

gensteejay:

About colonizing a galaxy, that's a long shot.

Maybe colonizing a planet looks more plausible, at least for a start.

Maybe creating our own mini planet sound more plausible, just like we have our satellites orbiting the earth, we will be orbiting a star

Enceladus:

are traveling at the speed of light which is impossible e=mc2 unless we can break the laws of physics or discover something like a wormhole which I don't think we will.

There are phenomenom that are faster than light like light pulse, non locality and others

marvelphysics:

Maybe creating our own mini planet sound more plausible, just like we have our satellites orbiting the earth, we will be orbiting a star

Maybe if space mining becomes a thing, space habitats could be built Stanford torus, O'Neill cylinder.

Jeff bezos is sinking money into his rocket company blue origin and believes the future of manufacturing is not on earth.

marvelphysics:

There are phenomenom that are faster than light like light pulse, non locality and others

Yes there are but none of them is carrying information i.e possess matter. Close to the speed of light mass approaches infinity. Light only travels at the speed of light because photons are massless.

About nonlocality, general relativity breaks down in the presence of quantum physics but what I know, quantum nonlocality theory does not permit FTL travel of information. Until we have a new proven theory, c is still the maximum speed for matter.

marvelphysics:

There are phenomenom that are faster than light like light pulse, non locality and others

They are either theoretical or massless i believe, did you have anyone you believe is promising in the long run.

marvelphysics:
Well am waiting for when asteroid crash and destroy maybe china, then maybe the world will be united in space exploration

But what will happen to china's border nation when the asteroid detonate their nuclear weapon