The scientists, in a new experiment, have found that if the living organisms are hosted by Venus in its toxic clouds, they won’t be deprived of amino acids, which is an important building blocks of life.
Venus, which is a “twin planet” of Earth, has a high temperature which goes beyond hundreds of degrees and is covered by clouds of corrosive sulfuric acid. This acid is a colourless, carcinogenic liquid which erodes the teeth, irritates our eyes, throats and nose and dissolves metals.
Even though the rocky planet is not seen as a habitable system for living organisms, however, the scientists suggest that if any life may have emerged in the hellish environment of Venus, it can be found wafting in its noxious clouds.
These clouds have a cooler temperature compared to the surface of the planet and can support some types of extreme lifeforms.
In the new experiment, which was carried out on those lines by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it was found that there was the existence of 19 amino acids for at least a month in a sulfuric acid solution, which included some water.
The sulfuric acid concentration of the solution was similar to the contents in Venusian clouds. In the results, it was found that sulfuric acid is not universally hostile to organic chemistry which is present on the Earth. It also suggested that Venusian clouds can host at least some of these complex molecules.
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In a statement, Sara Seager, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at MIT and co-author of the new study said, “It doesn’t mean that life there will be the same as here. In fact, we know it can’t be.”
“But this work advances the notion that Venus’ clouds could support complex chemicals needed for life,” he added.
MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) study co-author Janusz Petkowski said, “People have this perception that concentrated sulfuric acid is an extremely aggressive solvent that will chop everything to pieces. But we are finding this is not necessarily true.”
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The experiment came to an end four weeks ago because there were no further signs of activity.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts’ undergraduate student Maxwell Seager, who was leading the study, said, “Just showing that this backbone is stable in sulfuric acid doesn’t mean there is life on Venus. But if we had shown that this backbone was compromised, then there would be no chance of life as we know it.”
(With inputs from agencies)
