Venus clouds 'might harbour life' By Martin Redfern
There could be life on the planet Venus, US scientists have
concluded in a report in the journal Astrobiology. The
existence of life on the planet's oven-hot surface is
unimaginable.
But microbes could survive and reproduce, experts say,
floating in the thick, cloudy atmosphere, protected by a
sunscreen of sulphur compounds.
Scientists have even submitted a proposal for a Nasa space
mission to sample the clouds and attempt to return any
presumed Venusians to Earth.
"Venus is really a hellish place," said Professor Andrew
Ingersoll, of the California Institute of Technology. "If
you could get through the sulphuric acid clouds down to
the surface of Venus you'd find it was hotter than an
oven. You could melt lead at the surface of Venus and
there'd be no water."
But it was not always like that. Earth and Venus are in many
ways sister planets.
"Current theories suggest that Venus and the Earth may have
started out alike. There might have been a lot of water on
Venus and there might have been a lot of carbon dioxide on
Earth," Professor Ingersoll explained.
But all that was to change. On Earth, life in the oceans
took in carbon dioxide and turned it into limestone. On
Venus, 30% closer to the Sun, any oceans boiled away and the
water vapour added to the runaway greenhouse effect.
Venus became our planet's ugly sister. Its make-over, which
occurred billions of years ago, has left a surface where the
pressure is crushing.
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Posted by Robert Karl Stonjek.