Potential for life in Venus detected

[NTK]

My speaker cables have 3% phosphine injected into the jacket for more life like performance. Now I know why they sound so realistic.

Go easy on that phosphine thing. FYI, LC50 = lethal concentration, 50%. Which means 50% of the test subjects lived, 50% didn't make it, at the exposure time and level.

 

[North_Sky]

Don't forget HiFi systems!

Noooo, it's like asking for war right away. Wait until further development, then you can introduce tubes, DACs, measurements, ultra high end interconnects, cables, room treatments, low rumbles, big screem TVs (16K), MicroLed plasma, ...all that entertainment.

 

[ta240]

There is a 2020 sucks and Final Countdown joke in here somewhere.

This one is from Ikea though; you'll have to assemble it yourself.

 

[Count Arthur]

Yes, Dragon's Egg is a very good book .

Sounds interesting; I'll have a read of that.

Here's a couple more based around time difference:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show...r?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=RuDdRvDjIJ&rank=1
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/384579.Non_Stop?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=OVBqOLBBpC&rank=1

 

[GeorgeWalk]

Proto-molecule event. Waiting for ring-gate to rise from the surface...

 

[Nemo]

Sounds interesting; I'll have a read of that.

Here's a couple more based around time difference:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show...r?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=RuDdRvDjIJ&rank=1
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/384579.Non_Stop?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=OVBqOLBBpC&rank=1

Thank you: always on the look for new material!

 

[Nemo]

This is a clear review on what we know and what represents: Venus may hold the answers about life we’ve been looking for

The detection of sufficient quantities of phosphine in Venus’s atmosphere would be an intriguing pointer to the possibility of life in the sulfuric-acid clouds of our sister planet, but many questions would remain. Is it possible that planetary chemists have overlooked ways to produce phosphine on Venus in the absence of life? And if phosphine is produced by biology, where did that life originate? It is one thing to imagine life adapting to and hanging out opportunistically in the clouds of Venus. It is quite another to imagine that life could have originated there, sandwiched between the hell of the surface and the frozen realms of the thin upper atmosphere.

The article isn't long, and is an excelent science piece where possibilities are discussed. We will have to wait to get answers

 

[SIY]

Is it possible that planetary chemists have overlooked ways to produce phosphine on Venus in the absence of life?

Or reporters have. And of course, never asked the right people the right questions about a science story.

 

[Wes]

The last cited article was written by a scientist, not a reporter

 

[SIY]

The last cited article was written by a scientist, not a reporter

"We need grant money." It's a familiar tune.

But there's been a ton of news articles about this and I have yet to see a good one.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I think Earth socially distancing from Venus will be an effective strategy for this

I remember in 1950s Sci Fi film "The Queen of Outer Space" Steve Forrest led an expedition to Venus b/c it was shooting phosphine ray laser beams at Earth knocking out all our satellites and space ships. When he got there he married Zsa Zsa Gabor on a planet of gorgeous Amazons' wearing short skirts who kept asking "What is this kissing thing you want to do?" Everybody wound up having a happy ending.

Time to go there don't you think?

 

[Wes]

"We need grant money." It's a familiar tune.

But there's been a ton of news articles about this and I have yet to see a good one.

I fail to see how that relates to this article. Do you have any specific criticisms of this article?

 

[SIY]

I fail to see how that relates to this article. Do you have any specific criticisms of this article?

Yes. It focuses on the least likely hypothesis because it’s sexier than plain old inorganic chemistry.

 

[PierreV]

Yes. It focuses on the least likely hypothesis because it’s sexier than plain old inorganic chemistry.

Yeah, extraordinary blah blah... we all know the quote.

That being said, the paper hasn't been rushed, the live presentation was very balanced, phosphine was considered as a biomarker before (which is why it triggered the proposal) and a credible attempt was made to review all the known/potential pathways.

That being said, old inorganic chemistry in unusual physical conditions will probably give us the answer at some point I guess.

I am severly biased, I confess. I want that question of life elsewhere to be answered conclusively before I die. But I'd prefer being nuked by pretty sexy Cylons to to dying of some kind Andromeda Strain induced disease.

 

[mansr]

The actual paper is much more nuanced than the pop-sci and general news reporting:

If no known chemical process can explain PH3 within the upper atmosphere of Venus, then it must be produced by a process not previously considered plausible for Venusian conditions. This could be unknown photochemistry or geochemistry, or possibly life. Information is lacking—as an example, the photochemistry of Venusian cloud droplets is almost completely unknown. Hence a possible droplet-phase photochemical source for PH3 must be considered (even though PH3 is oxidized by sulfuric acid). Questions of why hypothetical organisms on Venus might make PH3 are also highly speculative (see ‘PH3 and hypotheses on Venusian life’ in Methods and Supplementary Information).

 

[SIY]

The actual paper is much more nuanced than the pop-sci and general news reporting:

Exactly. Science reporting is almost universally awful. Reporters are ignorant and motivated to stress the sexy aspects, and academic scientists have to promote the headline-grabbing stuff to help keep grants flowing.

 

[GeorgeWalk]

I think there are other important astronomical puzzles, such as:
Is There A Ring Of Debris Around Uranus?

 

[Wes]

Yes. It focuses on the least likely hypothesis because it’s sexier than plain old inorganic chemistry.

No one has been able to figure out how plain old inorganic chemistry would produce this gas on Venus.

 

[SIY]

No one has been able to figure out how plain old inorganic chemistry would produce this gas on Venus.

Well, that settles things.

 

[Wes]

It is unclear why you attempt to be coy in regards to this finding. Venus has an atmosphere that is quite different from the ones on Jupiter, et al. and there is no known mechanism other than life that can produce this result. if you merely want to say it is unproven, then fine.