The search for alien life has taken us all over the galaxy. We’ve peered into distant nebulae,
monitored far off planetary systems, and charted mysterious stars that are sometimes thousands
of lightyears away from us. But, still, no matter how much further out our technologies enable us to
look, there’s a suspicion that science just can’t shake about the worlds that are closest to us.
For so much of the twentieth century our research rounded on Mars, in particular…
but, increasingly, we’re now heading in the opposite direction, toward the sun
and to Earth’s so-called “evil twin” - Venus. This is Unveiled, and today we’re answering the
extraordinary question; Did scientists just discover alien life in the clouds of Venus?
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By now, it’s widely known just how bad a reputation Venus unfortunately has.
While the way humans have perceived Mars, over the years, has just about managed to
remain within the realms of optimism, as we look for potential homes away from Earth… the outlook
for Venus has never really offered anything other than it being a harsh and merciless place.
Traditionally, we’ve thought of Venus as a hellish world, toxic and choking,
and almost certainly inhospitable to life. And yet, just as times change, reputations can
also be rebuilt… and nowadays Venus is quite unexpectedly coming to the fore once again.
Something of a Venusian renascence could be just around the corner.
Scientists generally believe that the key could lie in the clouds. So many of the most recent
studies and news stories surrounding Venus focus on (or at least mention)
the upper atmosphere of this not-so-faraway planet. It’s been invariably theorized that,
at a certain level in that atmosphere, in the clouds, there might even be some of the best
conditions for life found anywhere else in the solar system. Conditions the like of which Mars
could never hope to offer, seeing as it has almost zero atmosphere. Moving in to 2022,
however, and the situation has developed again, with one particular study suggesting something
that - if it were found to be true - would surely constitute one of the greatest scientific
discoveries of all time. Existing life on Venus. The study in question first made headlines
in late December 2021, through a joint initiative run by an international team
based at the Cardiff and Cambridge Universities in the UK, and MIT in the US. And, not for the first
time when it comes to research aimed at Venus, it focussed on the apparent presence of ammonia
in the Venusian clouds. This has always been seen as a major anomaly about the planet,
debated since the 1970s, because ammonia (which requires hydrogen) shouldn’t really be there.
Venus is known to be blistering hot and highly acidic, even miles above the surface… and so,
it shouldn’t really be possible for ammonia to form. But, despite that, it seemingly has.
It’s previously been suggested that the ammonia might’ve come about through some kind of natural
event, such as a volcanic eruption. But this latest study errs more toward an alternative and
biological explanation. According to the study, it could be that tiny microbes (of some kind)
are instead responsible for generating the anomalous gas. It may be that no natural event
could generate the level of ammonia tentatively measured on Venus, no matter how explosive the
eruption or how large the storm. To maintain the supply that the planet seemingly has, then,
there needs to be something else… and a lifeform of some kind could be that something else.
What’s more, if life is producing ammonia on Venus, then those behind the study calculate
that the process (in itself) could be triggering a “cascade of chemical reactions” to make the
environment more habitable. In other words, while most of Venus remains almost certainly
inhospitable, the potential presence of ammonia-producing life could itself be
creating an environment that is more hospitable to life, in the first place.
It’s thought that the presence of ammonia could ultimately neutralize the incredible acidity of
Venus so that (while it remains far more acidic than most environments on Earth) it could feasibly
be possible for life to survive there. An article by the Cardiff University refers to it as a
“self-sustaining chain of events”, while a writeup by MIT refers to a “self-sustaining,
habitable pocket in the clouds”. So, with all of this in mind, can we truly
say that scientists have just discovered life in the clouds of Venus? The answer is still no,
and Earth remains the only planet on which we’re certain that life exists. What this study hasn’t
managed to do is to uncover irrefutable evidence that life definitely is happening elsewhere. What
it does do, however, is it shows how misguided it could be to continue to discount “life” when
debating the ammonia anomaly on Venus. Instead, might we begin to consider the presence of ammonia
more seriously as one of the surest signs of life we’ve yet seen elsewhere in the solar system?
One of the study’s co-authors, Professor Sara Seager from MIT,
is quoted as saying that “Ammonia shouldn’t be on Venus”, and that “any gas that doesn’t belong in
the context of its environment is automatically suspicious for being made by life”. Clearly,
that’s the avenue that this study has set out to explore. So, what might we expect in the future?
Excitingly, Venus is a major target for various space agencies and private space companies,
as we look to better our understanding of the solar system around us. June 2021 proved
an especially significant month, as three new Venus missions were announced, by NASA and ESA,
within just a few days - DAVINCI+, VERITAS and EnVision. NASA describes DAVINCI+ as “the first
US-led mission to Venus’ atmosphere since 1978”. It’s scheduled to launch between 2028 and 2030,
and will primarily investigate how the Venusian atmosphere came to evolve into its current,
scorching condition. VERITAS, another NASA project, and also tabled to launch around 2028,
will focus much more on the surface of Venus. The hope is to extensively map the planet,
including its topography, so that we might one day know its grounds as well as we already know Mars’.
Finally, EnVision is a collaboration with NASA led by the European Space Agency, ESA.
It will also take a closer look at the Venusian atmosphere and surface features,
again aiming to get a better grasp of how the planet came to be so hostile.
It could yet be that the big space agencies are a little late to the party, however.
With the possible exception of a proposed 2024 ISRO mission, most of the world’s other upcoming,
state-funded plans for Venus are scheduled to launch toward the end of the 2020s, only.
But the privately funded Venus Life Finder missions could take place much sooner. These are a
potential series of missions, primarily organized by MIT, with the same Professor Sara Seager
leading the venture. The first Venus Life Finder launch could reportedly happen as soon as 2023.
And, though it may not generate quite the level of mainstream attention that, say,
a NASA launch does, if the Life Finder probes do reach their target, it’s said they will head
straight for the topic of today’s video - the Venusian clouds - in search of life.
More so than with most planets, the situation on Venus is certainly a developing story. We’ve
become fascinated with it over recent years because of the extremes it presents to us,
but also because of the various theories that at one time, in the distant past,
Venus might not have been so different to Earth. Because of that, the race is on to
understand what happened there… and to determine whether Earth could ever meet a similar, fiery,
acidic, and just generally unfriendly fate. But, for now, and regardless of all that,
any alien world that harbors the possibility of extraterrestrial life - even if it’s microbial
extraterrestrial life - is going to demand attention. The ammonia on Venus has long had
scientists puzzled, but this contemporary study proposes a new way of looking at the problem.
Could it be that tiny lifeforms are holding up a self-sustaining environment over there,
battling against all the odds to stay alive? Ultimately, the answer is that no,
scientists haven’t discovered alien life in the clouds of Venus, just yet…
but we could be on the verge of discovering it. Or, at least
of finding out just what really happened to our world’s so-called “evil twin”.
What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these other
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