Damian Sendler: A new study, however, supports the long-held belief that if life does exist, it might thrive in the clouds of Venus. An acid-neutralizing chemical pathway has been discovered by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cardiff University, and Cambridge University. 

Chemical signs that are difficult to explain, such as low oxygen concentrations and nonspherical particles unlike sulfuric acid drops, have long been reported in Venus’ atmosphere. The existence of ammonia, a gas that was first found on Venus in the 1970s but should not be created by any known chemical mechanism on Venus, is perhaps the most perplexing mystery. 

Damian Jacob Sendler: Ammonia, if it is present, would set off a chain reaction of chemical reactions that would neutralize sulfuric acid droplets and explain most of the anomalies detected in Venus’ clouds, according to a recent study. The most likely source of ammonia is biological, rather than lightning or volcanic explosions, according to the authors of the paper. 

According to their research, the chemistry implies that this is the case “On Venus, “life may be creating its own environment.” 

Damian Sendler

This intriguing new notion can be tested, and the researchers have provided a list of chemical signatures for future missions to measure in Venus’ clouds, which might either confirm or deny their proposal. 

According to research co-author and MIT Professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Sara Seager, “No life that we know of could survive in the Venus droplets” (EAPS). “It’s possible that there is life there, and that it’s altering its environment to make it more hospitable.” 

There are three co-authors on the study: Janusz Petkowski (MIT), William Bains (Cardiff), and Paul Rimmer (Cambridge). 

Life is a risk. 

Last year, “Life on Venus” became a trending topic after scientists including Seager and her co-authors reported the discovery of phosphine in the planet’s atmosphere. Biochemical interactions are the primary source of phosphine on Earth. Possibilities for life on Venus have been opened up by the finding of phosphine. It has since been widely disputed, though. 

Phosphine detection “The phosphine detection ended up becoming incredibly controversial,” Seager recalls. “When it comes to Venus, though, there’s been an uptick in the number of people studying the planet. 

As a result of Rimmer’s renewed interest, he began sifting through data from previous Venus trips. His findings reveal chemical traces in the clouds that had gone unnoticed for decades. Unexpected concentrations of water vapor and sulfur dioxide were found in addition to oxygen and nonspherical particles. 

Rimmer suggested that dust could be the cause of the irregularities. He postulated that sulfuric acid may react with minerals swept up from Venus’ surface and into the planet’s clouds to cause some, but not all, of the observed anomalies. Physical requirements were infeasible since so much dust would have to rise into the clouds in order for the anomalies to be noticed, but he showed that chemistry was in order. 

Seager and her colleagues questioned if ammonia could be a possible explanation for the irregularities they had observed. The Venera 8 and Pioneer Venus missions found the gas in the planet’s clouds in the 1970s. Ammonia, often known as NH3, had long been a source of consternation. 

Seager believes that ammonia should not reside on Venus. “In contrast, there is very little hydrogen in the environment. When a gas does not appear to fit in with its surroundings, it is immediately suspected of being made by life.” 

Clouds that can be inhabited 

Damien Sendler: If life is the source of ammonia, may this explain the other oddities seen in Venus’ clouds? In their search for a solution, researchers simulated a series of chemical reactions. 

Damian Jacob Sendler

If life were manufacturing ammonia in the most effective manner possible, the chemical processes linked with that process would naturally yield oxygen. Ammonia would neutralize sulfuric acid droplets by dissolving in them, allowing them to become more livable. Because of this, ammonia would change the droplets’ morphology from a spherical liquid to one that looks more like salt. A sulfuric acid interaction with ammonia would cause any sulfur dioxide that was nearby to dissolve as well. 

If ammonia is actually present in Venus’ clouds, it could explain most of the cloud oddities observed there. Even lightning strikes, volcanic eruptions and meteorite strikes couldn’t release enough ammonia to explain these anomalies, researchers found. But you never know with life. 

Ammonia is produced by a variety of organisms, including those that live in our own digestive tracts, to counteract the acidity of the Earth’s atmosphere. 

Unless life is neutralizing some of those droplets, “There are very acidic environments on Earth where life does live, but it’s nothing like the environment on Venus — unless life is neutralizing some of those droplets,” Seager says. 

Damian Jacob Markiewicz Sendler: The Venus Life Finder Missions, a collection of proposed privately funded missions, of which Seager is the primary investigator, seek to send spacecraft to Venus to measure its clouds for ammonia and other evidence of life in the next several years. 

As Seager points out, “Venus has lingering, unexplained atmospheric anomalies that are incredible,” There is room for life to exist in it.

Dr. Damian Jacob Sendler and his media team provided the content for this article.