You’ll find the molecule phosphine in some fascinating locations: pesticides, penguin tummies, and presumably the clouds of Venus.
Phosphine might be a byproduct of residing issues, so discovering it in Venus’ clouds might presumably point out one thing alive floating across the planet. Venus’ floor is inhospitable, however there are areas within the cloud decks the place temperatures and pressures are just like these discovered on Earth.
Astronomer and astrobiologist Jane Greaves led the workforce that introduced the invention of phosphine within the Venusian ambiance in 2020. She started together with an image of a penguin in her talks for instance one of many locations you will discover phosphine, and it caught on as a meme.
“I’m afraid we did confuse individuals, slightly, with this penguin thought,” she mentioned throughout an American Astronomical Society (AAS) assembly presentation in June. “We didn’t actually counsel there are penguins flying desperately, flapping above the floor of Venus.”
What she does counsel is that there’s strong proof for phosphine within the Venusian clouds. Within the two years since her authentic phosphine paper garnered nice curiosity from the general public and scientific group, many different scientists studied the paper and did their very own analysis. Some scientists supported whereas others questioned the validity of the detection of phosphine.
In her AAS speak, Greaves outlined the story to date and offered new findings in assist of her phosphine within the clouds of Venus.
