- The discoveries of what was believed to be phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus have sparked debate about the possibility of life on the harsh planet.
- Now, a new research report offers an explanation that does not depend on the presence of phosphine and can destroy the whole theory that life exists on or around Venus.
- The study, which was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, suggests that what scientists actually see in the atmosphere of Venus is simply sulfur dioxide, which is known to be common on Venus and would not indicate the presence of life.
The year 2020 was full of a lot of terrible things, but a seemingly bright spot in the world of science came when scientists announced the discovery of what they thought was phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus. Phosphine in the atmosphere could be a sign of the biological processes taking place, and because the surface of Venus is little more than a toxic hellish landscape, it was thought that there could be aerial organisms around the planet, which would be the first discovery of extraterrestrial life. . ever done.
Now, after several months of further research, it is increasingly likely that what scientists thought they saw in Venus’ atmosphere is not phosphine at all. The paper, which appears in two papers published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, could be the last death blow of the theory of life on Venus.
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The researchers in this latest study examined data that were used to initially claim that phosphine may be present in the atmosphere of Venus. Unfortunately, the team could not actually find a clear spectral signature of the gas in the data, which has already put the claim in serious doubt.
Then, after further studying the behavior of gases in the atmosphere of Venus, the team concluded that scientists probably saw only sulfur dioxide, which is a common gas around Venus and would not indicate the possible presence of life. This is obviously a huge teddy bear, because it means that anyone who dreams of discovering the first extraterrestrial life will have to wait a while longer.
Many in the scientific community have already hesitated to believe that phosphine may be present in the atmosphere of Venus. Because phosphine would deteriorate rapidly in the atmosphere, the presence of a significant amount of gas would mean that there is something actively generating it. One theory suggested that the biological processes that took place above the surface of Venus were responsible, but that the myth now seems to be well and broken.
So there is probably no life on Venus, but that does not mean that extraterrestrial life is absent from our entire solar system. Astronomers believe that there is still the possibility that life in some form exists in the water-rich months of Jupiter and Saturn and perhaps even around Uranus.
Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games over the past decade, covering breaking news and trends in VR, portable devices, smartphones and future technology. Most recently, Mike served as technical editor at The Daily Dot and was featured in USA Today, Time.com and countless other internet outlets and printmakers. His love of reporting is second only to gambling addiction.