Two teams detect life-linked gases in Venus's clouds.

Researchers in the United Kingdom presented evidence this month suggesting the presence of two gases, which are linked to life on Earth, in the atmosphere of Venus. One of these is ammonia, which on Earth primarily results from biological activity, and was first detected in 2021. 

In 2020, another research team found phosphine in Venus's atmosphere, a claim that has sparked significant debate ever since. Although the new findings are not definitive proof of life on the second planet from Sun – known for its extreme heat and dense atmosphere - they add intriguing data points in the search for extraterrestrial life.

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One hypothesis is that life may have once existed on Venus. "If Venus went through a warm, wet phase in the past, then as runaway global warming took effect, life could have evolved to survive in the only niche left to it—the clouds," said Dave Clements, an astrophysics reader at Imperial College Londonas quoted by The Guardian. 

While Venus's surface is hot enough to melt lead, the clouds 30 miles above experience temperatures and pressure levels more akin to those on Earth.

Phosphine, although producible by volcanic activity, is more commonly associated with bacteria in oxygen-starved environments, making it a "biosignature" gas.

The existence of phosphine in Venus's clouds remains controversial. In September 2020, a team led by Jane Greaves from Cardiff University announced the detection of significant phosphine sources, a finding that faced immediate skepticism. Subsequent critiques argued there was "no statistical evidence for phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus."

Greaves and her team have since tracked phosphine signatures using the James Clerk Maxwell telescope in Hawaii. "Our findings suggest that when the atmosphere is bathed in sunlight, the phosphine is destroyed. We don’t know what’s producing it. It may be chemistry that we don’t understand. Or possibly life. All that we can say is that phosphine is there," Greaves stated.

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Scientists are hopeful for more concrete answers. Earlier this year, the European Space Agency approved a mission named Envision, designed to study Venus's inner and outer atmosphere.

Internally, Venus has a core, mantle, and crust. It lacks an internal dynamo, and its weakly induced magnetosphere is caused by atmospheric interactions with the solar wind. Internal heat escapes through active volcanism, resulting in resurfacing instead of plate tectonics. Venus is one of two planets in the Solar System, the other being Mercury, that have no moons.

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