Scientists have discovered signs of life on Venus

Scientists have discoveredPhosphine gas in the cloud decks of Venus rare toxic gas phosphine in the clouds above Venus. It usually forms during the decomposition of biomaterial. Right now, the only way to explain the presence of this gas on the planet is to admit that there may be life on it.

So far, no one has been able to directly observe something alive on Venus. The gas in question (poisonous, explosive and smelling of garlic and rotten fish) was found in the clouds, where the temperature is close to Earth's. Gas concentration is low: by words astrophysicist David Clements, she can be compared to "a couple of tablespoons of a substance in an Olympic swimming pool."

But even this amount of phosphine could not have appeared by itself. On Earth, it is produced both artificially (for the destruction of pests and for biological weapons), and naturally as a result of the vital activity of microbes - mainly in swamps and swamps. It is also sometimes found in animals. Until now, it was believed that this gas most likely exists only on Earth.

Emily Drabek-Maunder, astrophysicist at the Royal Observatory of Greenwich, notes in the study:

Either phosphine is a product of chemical or geological processes about which we know nothing, or it is of biological origin. The amount of gas discovered by our team cannot be explained by anything that we know about the planet. When simulating what happens in the atmosphere (volcanic activity, solar radiation), it is not considered possible to obtain the amount of phosphine that we have observed.

This discovery indicates the presence of a bio-trace on the planet and usually means the presence of life. True, there is no question of green men: most likely, these are microbes in the clouds. Which is quite logical, because the average temperature on the surface of Venus is 462 ° C, and the atmosphere is acidic - under such conditions the clouds sound much more pleasant.

how told Dmitry Rogozin, general director of Roscosmos, in the coming years Russia may send a mission to Venus. Breakthrough Initiatives Foundation, founded by Russian businessman Yuri Milner, will finance research aimed at finding life in the atmosphere of Venus.