{"id":23272,"date":"2020-09-15T18:54:23","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T10:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/life-on-venus-scientists-havent-ruled-it-out-with-atmospheric-phosphine-molecule-discovery\/"},"modified":"2020-09-15T18:54:23","modified_gmt":"2020-09-15T10:54:23","slug":"life-on-venus-scientists-havent-ruled-it-out-with-atmospheric-phosphine-molecule-discovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/life-on-venus-scientists-havent-ruled-it-out-with-atmospheric-phosphine-molecule-discovery\/","title":{"rendered":"Life on Venus? Scientists haven\u2019t ruled it out with atmospheric phosphine molecule discovery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While it\u2019s far too soon to claim that life has been discovered beyond our planet, a new scientific discovery provides a tantalizing clue that Venus may be the best place to search for extraterrestrial life. The Royal Astronomical Society announced today that phosphine molecules have been observed from Earth in the atmosphere of Venus. <\/p>\n

Why does that matter? The phosphine molecule is created either artificially on Earth or \u201cby microbes that thrive in oxygen-free environments,\u201d as RAS describes. <\/p>\n

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An international team of astronomers, led by Professor Jane Greaves of Cardiff University, today announced the discovery of a rare molecule \u2014 phosphine \u2014 in the clouds of Venus. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

Astronomers have speculated for decades that high clouds on Venus could offer a home for microbes \u2014 floating free of the scorching surface, but still needing to tolerate very high acidity. The detection of phosphine molecules, which consist of hydrogen and phosphorus, could point to this extra-terrestrial \u2018aerial\u2019 life. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While the surface of Venus is far too hot to support life as we know it on Venus, scientists haven\u2019t ruled out life in the clouds of Venus being the source of the phosphine molecules. What scientists have ruled out thus far are other sources for the molecules like lightning, sunlight, and volcanic activity due to the amount of molecules observed.<\/p>\n

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But before we can begin to claim that the atmosphere of Venus is the first known environment to support life beyond Earth, a tremendous amount of investigation is required. NASA has two potential missions focused on studying Venus, and small satellite launch provider Rocket Lab has already expressed interest in a commercial mission in the next three years.<\/p>\n

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