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Traces of phosphatase have been found in strongly acidic clouds on the planet Venus, suggesting that microbes may live in Earth’s uninhabitable neighbor, scientists announced Monday according to the MTI.
The researchers did not discover real life, they only noticed that phosphine on Earth is produced by bacteria that live in oxygen-deficient conditions. The international research team used the James Clerk Maxwell space telescope in Hawaii, and the results were confirmed using the ALMA (Atacama LargeMillimeter / submillimeter Array) space telescope in the Atacama Desert, Chile.
It was really amazing
He told Reuters Jane Greaves, astronomer at the University of Cardiff in Wales, lead author of a study published in a recent issue of Nature Astronomy.
The existence of extraterrestrial life forms has long been at the forefront of science. They use space probes and telescopes to look for indirect signs of life on the planets and moons of our solar system and other star systems.
As far as we know Venus, the most likely explanation for the presence of phosphine, no matter how fantastic it sounds, is life. If it really is phosphine, and if it really refers to life, it means that we are not alone. It also means that life itself is very common and that there must be many other inhabited planets in the galaxy.
He explained Clara Sousa-Silva, molecular astrophysicist at Massachusetts Technological University (MIT).
Phosphine or hydrogen-phosphorus is a highly toxic compound for humans.
Terrestrial space telescopes help scientists study the chemical and other characteristics of celestial bodies.
Greaves and his colleagues investigated possible non-biological sources of phosphine, volcanic activity, meteorites, lightning, and various types of chemical reactions, but none seemed like a plausible explanation.
Venus is the closest planetary neighbor to Earth, its structure is similar, but smaller than our planet. Compared to the Sun, the third planet is Earth, the second is Venus, surrounded by a thick, toxic and heat-absorbing atmosphere. The temperature also reaches 471 degrees Celsius, which is enough to melt lead.
We can only speculate about what kind of life could exist on Venus if there really is. It could not survive on its surface because it is completely uninhabitable and its biochemical composition is quite different from that of Earth. But long before the runaway greenhouse effect made most of the planet completely uninhabitable, perhaps there could have been life on Venus.
Sousa-Silva added.
The clouds of Venus contain about 90 percent sulfuric acid. Terrestrial microbes would not survive in this.
Bacteria on Earth produce phosphorus from minerals or biological materials to produce phosphine, to which hydrogen binds.
Given our current knowledge of phosphine, Venus, and geochemistry, we cannot explain the presence of phosphine in clouds on Venus. This is not to say that life is the explanation, just that some unknown process produces phosphine, and more research is needed to understand how.
Sousa-Silva said.
Featured Image: Getty Images
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