Chemical processes may create self-sustainable and habitable ‘bubbles’ in the Venusian atmosphere where life can thrive.

It’s hard to imagine a more inhospitable world than our next-planetary neighbor Venus. For example, Venus has an average surface temperature well above the melting point of lead (around 327.5 degrees Celsius). In addition, the planet is surrounded by a layer of clouds laced with corrosive sulfuric acid. Venus is such a scorching and suffocating wasteland that life as we know it could not survive. Or is it…?

Life on Venus

Whether or not Venus contains life has been a question astronomers have pondered for some time. However, a new study now proposes the unthinkable: There could be aliens on hostile Venus. Researchers have discovered that through certain chemical processes that aliens themselves initiate, droplets of corrosive sulfuric acid can be neutralized. This creates self-sufficient and habitable ‘bubbles’ in the Venusian atmosphere.

phosphine
Incidentally, it is not the first time that it has been suggested that life may exist on Venus. Last year scientists made a big revelation. They had discovered phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus: a gas that is produced here on Earth by bacteria and can therefore also indicate the presence of life on Venus. The study in which the researchers revealed their discovery about the gas phosphine changed our view of Venus forever. Until recently, the planet was seen as Earth’s uninhabitable twin sister – which is about the same size as our home planet, but has surface temperatures of about 465 degrees Celsius due to a greenhouse effect that got out of hand – it now suddenly turned out to be life to accommodate. That life would then reside high in the cloud cover, where temperatures are around thirty degrees Celsius. The research made the heart of many astrobiologists beat faster and people immediately fantasized about missions to Venus, where we could actively search for those organisms. But the research also raised a lot of questions, and the detection of phosphine eventually became incredibly controversial. In follow-up research, the exciting theory that the discovered traces of phosphine have to do with life was therefore relegated to the realm of fables.

Scientists have previously observed puzzling anomalies in Venus’ atmosphere — chemical features that are difficult to explain. Think of small concentrations of oxygen and non-spherical particles in contrast to the round drops of sulfuric acid. But perhaps most puzzling is the presence of ammonia; a gas briefly detected in the Venusian atmosphere in the 1970s. “Ammonia shouldn’t exist on Venus,” said study researcher Sara Seager. “It has hydrogen attached to it and there is very little hydrogen around. Any gas that does not belong in the context of its environment is automatically suspect because in that case it may be produced by life.”

ammonia

If ammonia is indeed present in the Venusian atmosphere, it could have far-reaching consequences. The gas can cause certain chemical reactions, which can neutralize surrounding droplets of sulfuric acid. In addition, ammonia may also explain the aforementioned anomalies observed in the dense cloud cover of Venus. How does this ammonia arise? The researchers state that a biological origin is the most obvious. Lightning, volcanic eruptions and even a meteorite impact could not produce the amount of ammonia needed to explain the anomalies. But ammonia-producing aliens can.

Dial

In short, it means that these aliens may single-handedly craft a livable spot in the clouds of Venus. By producing ammonia, they neutralize their environment, creating habitable bubbles for life to thrive in.

This image shows hypothetical microbial life in the clouds of Venus. Life resides in protective ‘bubbles’ and is carried around the planet by winds. Image: J. Petkowska

Not such a crazy theory. Also on Earth – especially in our own stomachs – life forms that produce ammonia and neutralize an otherwise very acidic environment and make it habitable. “No known life form can survive on Venus,” Seager says. “But the point is that maybe there is life. And that life may adapt its environment to make it livable.”

It is a tantalizing theory that is testable. The researchers therefore provide a laundry list of chemical signatures that can be measured during future missions in the clouds of Venus. These measurements could then confirm or disprove the exciting theory. We may not even have to wait long for this. Because both NASA and ESA are currently shaping missions to “our evil twin sister.” Seager is in any case hopeful. “Venus has incredible inexplicable atmospheric anomalies,” Seager says. “And they leave room for the possibility of life.”