If you want to find a planet that looks the most like hell in the solar system, I believe many people will choose Venus. However, on such a planet, scientists have discovered the closest evidence to alien life so far...
"hell" in the solar system
(Picture description: Scientists simulate the terrifying environment on the surface of Venus)
Venus' atmosphere is extremely thick, with the surface atmospheric pressure 92 times that of the earth, equivalent to the pressure of the 1,000-meter-deep sea; and almost all of it is carbon dioxide, the terrifying greenhouse effect makes the temperature of Venus' surface up to 500℃; there are sulfuric acid clouds thick up to 20-30 kilometers in the sky, and acid rain continues to pour onto the surface of Venus; thunderstorms occur from time to time, and the longest lightning lasts for 15 minutes.
No matter from any perspective, Venus is a forbidden zone of life, and even the solid detectors of human beings were quickly destroyed. However, it was on such a planet that scientists found the evidence that may be the closest to alien life to date.
This time the research comes from world-renowned research institutions such as MIT and Cambridge University, and the leader is Jane Greaves from Cardiff University. The closest evidence they found to be alien life is a chemical substance - phosphine .
(Picture description: Since the horrific environment is almost impossible to allow human detectors to explore for a long time, many science fiction writers like to imagine strange worlds on the surface of Venus)
phosphine, evidence of alien life
phosphine is a compound composed of 3 hydrogen atoms and one phosphorus atom. It is not common in daily life because it is highly toxic and flammable. However, we have all heard of another form of it more or less, that is what the people call ghost fire.
Scientist Clara Sosa-Silva, a scientist in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT, pointed out: "The unique thing about phosphine is that it is difficult to synthesize it on rocky planets without life."
In fact, she published a paper last year, pointing out that phosphine may be one of the important signs of human discovery of anaerobic organisms on other planets, and we can find its traces through devices such as Hubble. Less than a year later, the scientists really made a breakthrough in this area, which made her very excited.
(Picture description: Venus synthesis picture taken by the Japanese dawn probe)
On Earth, the synthesis of phosphine is usually related to organisms, and it is also an anaerobic organism. The ghost fire mentioned in the folk are also composed of the phosphorus elements in the corpse after the death of a creature, and are also related to life. Coincidentally, there is almost no oxygen on Venus, and only anaerobic organisms are possible.
phosphine is not without other synthesis methods, such as we have also discovered this substance on Jupiter. However, the temperature and pressure inside Jupiter far exceed that inside Venus, and it is a gas planet, so it is completely possible to synthesize phosphine from the inside and then transport it into the atmosphere. And this process does not apply to Venus.
Since phosphine can only be synthesized by biosynthes, and the environment of Venus happens to be suitable for such organisms. Then we have very good reason to believe that there may be creatures on Venus.
(Picture description: The structure of Venus atmospheric structure taken by the European Space Agency's Venus Express probe by ultraviolet, visible light and near-infrared mapping spectrometer)
On the other hand, there is another problem that needs to be paid attention to, that is, the terrifying natural environment on the surface of Venus. However, these phosphines were discovered in the Venus atmosphere.
"Oasis" in "Hell"
For many years, although scientists have clearly realized the harsh surface environment of Venus, they have never given up. Through a large number of studies, they have proved that although the surface environment of is harsh, the environment of the upper atmosphere of Venus is quite good, and its average temperature is between -1 and 93 degrees Celsius, which is enough to support the existence of life . And phosphine was discovered here.
Using a spectrometer from the Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii, Greaves and her team detected traces of phosphine for the first time.She reminiscent of Sosa Silva's long-standing study of phosphine and its relationship with life, and thus made contact with the latter.
Sousa Silva has been hoping for many years to find extraterrestrial life through phosphine on exoplanets. Now, hearing that this substance is found on Venus, which is "closely close", immediately aroused great interest and joined the research. In order to first confirm that the discovery was indeed phosphine, they asked the European Southern Observatory for help, thus obtaining the opportunity to use the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array) in Chile, and use more sensitive and accurate equipment to observe. Finally, they confirmed that there is phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus!
Next, they need to determine: where this phosphine comes from. Sherlock Holmes said: When all other possibilities are excluded, the last one, no matter how ridiculous it is, is the real answer to the question. Therefore, what they need to do is to rule out all the possibilities of non-biosynthesis phosphine processes and use the exclusion method to prove that these phosphines come from Venus.
Source of Venus phosphine
With the data of two telescopes, they found Hideo Sagawa of Kyoto Institute of Technology, hoping to analyze the data of phosphine through the Venus atmospheric model established by the latter. The results show that the amount of phosphine in Venus' atmosphere is only about 20 parts per billion. This number sounds very small, but in comparison, on the earth with such a rich ecosystem, the concentration of phosphine is even lower, which shows that the phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus cannot be ignored.
Next, they considered all possible meteorological conditions on the surface of Venus, such as sunlight, volcanoes, surface minerals, thunderstorms, meteors, etc., but none of them could allow phosphine to naturally synthesize without organisms. Therefore, only the synthesis of life is the final remaining answer.
The problem is that, as we said, the surface environment of Venus is harsh, and life can only survive in the upper atmosphere of Venus at most. So, how did they come to such an area?
Scientists point out that this goes back a long time ago.
Once a paradise of life
Billions of years ago, Venus was not what it is today. Its environment is very livable and may even be the first planet in the solar system to nurture life. At that time, Venus' life was still living on the surface. However, as Venus' environment continues to deteriorate, they have to move to other regions to survive, just as early life on Earth can only survive under the oxygen-deficient ground today.
(Picture description: Scientists simulate the process of Venus organisms rising and falling in the atmosphere and continuously reproduction and iterating)
However, such a life form must be very different from the Earth. They not only survive in the high atmosphere that is hypoxic, but also need to be able to find solvents other than water to metabolize. However, this is also possible. After all, there are anaerobic bacteria on the earth that can synthesize phosphine, and it is not impossible to find similar organisms on Venus and do not require water.
Sousa Silva said confidently: "It is difficult to get negative results. Nowadays, astronomers will try every means to prove that phosphine does not require life. I welcome this. Let's try it. Anyway, we have reached a dead end in the synthesis of phosphine under no life conditions." It can be heard that she is very willing to believe that this phosphine comes from the synthesis of life.
(Image description: Clara Sosa-Silva) Can
draw conclusions?
At this point, the three major conditions, the right time, place, and people are all hinting that we are: may have life in the upper atmosphere of Venus. So, can we draw conclusions?
is still early.
EAPS research scientist Yanuz Petkowski said: "This either means life or implies a physical or chemical process we did not expect to happen on this rocky planet... We did simulate all possible ways to synthesize phosphine on rocky planets, and found that if this was not a process caused by life, it can only be said that we have a serious lack of understanding of this rocky planet."
(Image description: the early habitable Venus with liquid oceans simulated by scientists)
Although his tone still tends toward life, he still does not deny an unknown chemical reaction process.
In short, each of us wants this phosphine to be produced by Venus’ life. However, unless there are clear discoveries, we still cannot draw conclusions, especially for rigorous scientists.
As foreign commentators said, although the alien life in the movie appears directly on Earth with great fanfare and is discovered by us. But real life is that we have to start with something like phosphine or other faint signals, and get closer to alien life a little bit. Fortunately, Venus is not far away, and scientists are also interested and capable of launching detectors above Venus, and even entering its high atmosphere to find traces of life in a more intuitive way.
If there is really life on Venus, then this may imply that life is very common in the universe...
