Research led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the United States, argues that the environmental conditions on Venus are conducive to the development of living beings.
By comparing the properties of Venus’s cloud layer and substances found on Earth, the team suggests that the “soup” there is sufficient to harbor microorganisms.
Therefore, scientists encourage future missions on the planet to search for life. They believe that any existing biomass could be detected by optical methods.
When speculating about the possibility of life in our solar system, scientists generally leave Venus aside.
The biggest candidates for housing living beings outside Earth are usually Mars, Europa (Jupiter’s moon) and Enceladus (Saturn’s moon). The presence of microorganisms in these places remains unknown, but their similarities with the most inhospitable places on Earth indicate that this is possible.
Although Venus is not a very popular candidate for harboring life, it is not the first time the possibility has been suggested.
In the 1960s, legendary astronomer Carl Sagan was already speculating on the subject. In an article in the journal Nature, he and biophysicist Harold Morowitz wrote that while the planet’s surface makes the hypothesis of the presence of life implausible, the planet’s clouds present the necessary prerequisites to harbor microorganisms.
