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Venus-crop-main

The planet Venus is not usually what you'd think of as "habitable," with its clouds of sulfuric acid and atmospheric pressure 92 times higher than Earth. The surface temperature is roughly 870 degrees Fahrenheit (465 degrees Celsius), which is hot enough to melt lead, so it's safe to say life as we know it could not be. Still, a new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the journal Astrobiology suggests there could be life on Venus. Well, not directly on it, but above the surface.

Scientists believe Venus was a very different, more than Earth-like globe when it was younger. Notwithstanding, all its water evaporated into the atmosphere as the temperature shot upward betwixt 650 million and 2 billion years after its formation. Information technology took microbial life about 1 billion years to develop on Earth, so it's plausible some sort of life came into being on Venus and migrated upward as atmospheric condition on the footing worsened.

The study makes a case that Venus' temper has everything microorganisms would need to survive, and they would be protected from the worst of the planet'south conditions. The temperature and force per unit area need to be compatible with life to have whatsoever promise of finding microorganisms high up in Venus' choking temper. According to the researchers, once you get to an altitude of thirty miles, the pressure drops to effectually 15 pounds per square inch—similar to sea level on Earth. The temperature is a toasty but tolerable 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius).

The composition of the Venusian temper isn't equally much of a problem equally you lot might await. On Globe, a class of organisms known as extremophiles tin can thrive in volcanic vents, inside rocks, and even in pools of acrid. It'due south possible a hearty organism could feed on the carbon dioxide in the temper and float around unbothered by the clouds of acid. In the words of Dr. Ian Malcolm, "Life, uh, finds a way."

The surface of Venus captured by a Soviet Venera probe.

We don't accept any directly testify of life on Venus, simply the study points to an interesting possibility. Venus has dark splotches in its atmosphere that shift size and location, just never completely vanish. Scientists don't yet have a convincing caption for these dark patches, but the University of Wisconsin team points to research that indicates the particles in these regions are the size of bacteria. What if they actually are bacteria-like organisms?

The corrosive nature of Venus' atmosphere makes studying the planet difficult. While we can land a rover on Mars and drive effectually for years, the Venus landers have lasted barely ii hours at best. Perchance in the future, high-distance probes will be able to survive longer on Venus and detect out if there actually is life wafting on the breeze.