We had to borrow from Startrek vocabulary to report this news. Yes, there may be life on our neighbouring planet. We have found chemical signatures that need to be explained with anything beyond our understanding if we were to deny it as a definitive proof of life.
The Chemical Signature – phosphine
An international team of researchers have announced the discovery of phosphine gas in the clouds above Venus. The toxic gas is considered a key biosignature and may indicate the presence of life high in the Venusian skies.
The biosignature was detected by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) array located in Chile and the James Clerk Maxwell telescope located in Hawaii. The research was conducted by multidisciplinary teams based at the University of Manchester, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Cardiff University.
Why does it points to life?
The rotten-smelling gas is found on Earth – deep in swamps and bog by anaerobic microorganisms, and in digestive tracks of certain animals.
We do not know of any natural chemical process that produces phosphine (PH3) . The density is just 20 molecule per billion molecules and that is expected in the upper reached of Venus’ atmosphere (Also called Hayden Cells).
The temperature and pressure at the height is amiable to life.
Further the research failed to find any abiological way of production of Phosphine from Phosphorous.
It might change everything we know
Even if this is not a proof of exobiological process, it definitely is exiting time for our understanding of both Physics and Chemistry. Venus is a pressure cooker made of sulphuric acid clouds. The interaction the chemical reactions that may produce Phospine at 20 PPB levels is something to be looked forward to.
Even if we assume that life is the reason for this detection, the living organisms will be nothing like we have seen on earth.
Venus is It is marginally smaller than Earth and has an atmosphere composed of 96 percent carbon dioxide.
