Phosphine detected on Venus

[Charles 3781]

I wouldn't get too excited about marginal instrument readings from a distant planet such as Venus.

This has happened before, in the case of the similarly distant planet Mars.  You know what I mean - the "canals".

[Phi for All]

On 9/20/2020 at 11:12 AM, Charles 3781 said:

This has happened before, in the case of the similarly distant planet Mars.  You know what I mean - the "canals".

The canals were debunked well over a hundred years ago. The sightings involved no instrument readings, just antique telescopes with no photography.

You should study up, they've stopped using orreries at NASA.

[John Cuthber]

9 hours ago, Phi for All said:

The sightings involved no instrument readings, just antique telescopes

I'm pretty sure that a telescope is an instrument.

The point is that, at the time people were drawing pictures of "canals on Mars", they were struggling against the resolution of their telescopes.
Now they are struggling against the resolution of their spectroscopes.

 

9 hours ago, Phi for All said:

The canals were debunked well over a hundred years ago.

Steam engines were invented at steam engine time.

Up until relatively recently, millimeter wave spectroscopy was so impractical that nobody did it.
The technology has changed but it's still not a mature technology. A bit like the old telescopes.


It's a valid comparison.

[jimmydasaint]

On 9/14/2020 at 5:06 PM, swansont said:

"Strange chemical in clouds of Venus defies explanation. Could it be a sign of life?"

https://www.space.com/venus-clouds-possible-life-chemical-discovery.html

I am joining this vigorous debate quite late so I just wish to make one point. If micro-organisms are synthesising the phosphine and then undergoing replication exponentially before reaching a stationary phase and remaining in that phase where number of deaths = number of new bacteria then the levels of phosphine would be fairly constant throughout the year,  I would imagine. However, if chemical substrates such as phosphine precursors were variable then a prolonged, year-long examination of phosphine amounts should show variation.  In the same way, our atmospheric  carbon dioxide levels vary according to the raw materials for synthesis of carbohydrates by algae and land-based plants; we tend to see a decreased atmospheric concentration in the summer when ambient conditions of raw materials and substrates are at their highest. Of course I am just speculating but are there seasonal variations in atmospheric gas content on Mars?

[SergUpstart]

Scientists have found another sign of life on Venus – the simplest amino acid glycine.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.06211

[joigus]

44 minutes ago, SergUpstart said:

Scientists have found another sign of life on Venus – the simplest amino acid glycine.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.06211

Glycine has been found in asteroids too. It's the simplest amino acid.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17628-found-first-amino-acid-on-a-comet/

[joigus]

1 hour ago, joigus said:

It's the simplest amino acid.

You already said. Sorry.

[Moontanman]

Chemist Phil Mason, known on you tube as Thunderf00t, has released a video explaining in detail why life cannot exist in the clouds of venus based on the lack of hydrogen and how the phosphine would have to be attributed to some other process. He also explains the paper citing the possible discovery of phosphine and how it has been misinterpreted buy many. The video is 37:08 minutes long but is very interesting and flies by (in my estimation) For a concise view on this discovery feel free to watch. 

 

[swansont]

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/10/venus-might-not-have-much-phosphine-dampening-hopes-for-life/

“Promising sign of life on Venus might not exist after all”

 

Repeatability can be a cruel mistress...

[joigus]

Another real-estate agency's hopes have been shattered, as we speak.

[SergUpstart]

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cardiff and Cambridge Universities have figured out what chemical reactions could make the clouds of Venus habitable.
The fact is that ammonia found in the atmosphere of the planet in the 1970s is able to neutralize drops of sulfuric acid, writes MIT News. https://news.mit.edu/2021/habitable-venus-clouds-acid-neutralizing-1220
And then there could be biological species similar to terrestrial ones. The scientists explained that ammonia turns acid into ammonium sulfite, which in itself can create an environment in the clouds of Venus suitable for life. 

Scientists were prompted to conduct a study by mysterious anomalies in the clouds of Venus – such as small concentrations of oxygen, which should not be there.