American scientists have identified a component that can only be produced by life in the clouds of Venus.
A shocking study recently published in the scientific journal PNAS asserts that the famous “cloud seas” of Venus may generate a series of chemical reactions that make the environment much more habitable than previously thought by scientists.
Professor Sara Seager from the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the lead authors of the study, stated: “Ammonia should not be on Venus.”
Previously, evidence of significant amounts of ammonia in the cloud seas of Venus had been recorded by various spacecraft and observational instruments. This is peculiar because other components in the planet’s atmosphere and environment are not conducive to producing such ammonia levels.
“It contains hydrogen and there is very little hydrogen around. Any gas that does not belong to its environment is suspected to be produced by life,” the Sci-News quoted Professor Seager’s analysis.
The researchers constructed models clearly indicating that even natural sources like lightning, volcanoes, or meteorite impacts are insufficient to generate the ammonia levels found in the atmosphere, but life could.
Previously, there were several other biological signs recorded on Venus, such as phosphine (a ghostly gas); however, scientists remained skeptical due to the sulfuric acid-rich cloud seas of Venus. Nevertheless, if microbial life exists, it could potentially neutralize the acid and make these cloud seas even more habitable for “higher” organisms.
Venus has long been known as Earth’s twin, located within the habitable zone of the Solar System, but unfortunately, it has undergone a less favorable evolutionary process, rendering it difficult to inhabit.
