Scientists have been pondering whether could acid-neutralizing life-forms could exist in the theoretically habitable pockets in Venus’ clouds. A research paper looking into this has come from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The reason why life might be possible within this area of the planet is based on an assessment of the chemistry of the Venusian clouds. In particular there is a chemical pathway by which life could neutralize Venus’ acidic environment. If this functions as is theorized, the pathway could create a self-sustaining, habitable pocket in the clouds.
Initially the possibility may seem odd (for instance, Venus is hotter than Mercury despite being further away from the Sun). Much like the planet’s surface, the clouds of Venus appear inhospitable, blanketing the skies in droplets of sulfuric acid. This acid is sufficiently strong to burn a hole straight through human skin.
Yet researchers have detected small concentrations of oxygen, water vapor and sulfur dioxide. There is also the presence of some atypically shaped =non-spherical particles. These particles do not conform to sulfuric acid’s round droplets. In addition, the gas ammonia has been detected and the presence of ammonia does not connect to any chemical signature found on the planet’s surface.
What is significant about ammonia is that the gas would trigger a cascade of chemical reactions capable of neutralizing surrounding droplets of sulfuric acid. In theory, ammonia should not be present in the Venusian atmosphere because it is partly formed from hydrogen and there is no natural source of hydrogen that could create the quantities of ammonia measured.
Not only this, the origin of the ammonia could well be of a biological origin. This leads the scientists to write in their research paper: “life could be making its own environment on Venus.”
In the human gut, microbes produce ammonia to neutralize and make liveable an otherwise highly acidic environment. The same phenomenon could be taking place in the dense clouds around the planet.
The information has been passed onto NASA so that future missions to Venus will focus on measuring further the chemical entities found in the clouds. Hopefully sufficient data will be amassed to permit confirming or refuting this idea of life within the clouds.
The research paper appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where it is headed “Production of ammonia makes Venusian clouds habitable and explains observed cloud-level chemical anomalies.”
