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Life on Venus? Probe mission could search Venus clouds for unexplained hydrogen-rich gases

Life on Venus? UK probe could reveal the answer
An artist’s impression of the proposed VERVE mission to Venus the answer whether tiny bacterial lifeforms really do exist in the planet’s clouds. Credit: Danielle Futselaar

The answer to whether tiny bacterial life-forms really do exist in the clouds of Venus could be revealed once and for all by a UK-backed mission.

Over the past five years, researchers have detected the presence of two potential biomarkers—the gases phosphine and ammonia—which on Earth can only be produced by biological activity and industrial processes.

Their existence in the Venusian clouds cannot easily be explained by known atmospheric or geological phenomena, so Cardiff University’s Professor Jane Greaves and her team are plotting a way to get to the bottom of it.

Revealing a new mission concept at ...

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