Scientists have disproved the possibility of life on Venus in the form known to us

In a study last year, another group of scientists mistook a completely different substance for phosphine – sulfur dioxide.

What happened

• In September 2020, scientists announced the discovery in the atmosphere of Venus phosphine – a substance that has come to be called a probable sign of the presence of microorganisms. The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
• On Earth, the presence of phosphines is associated with life, namely with microbes living in the intestines of animals, or in oxygen-poor environments – for example, in swamps.
• It turned out that another substance was taken for phosphine – sulfur dioxide. Another group of scientists proved this, their work was also presented in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Astronomy on June 28, 2021.
• Moreover, according to another criterion – the level of water activity – the emergence of life on Venus seems almost impossible. Water activity determines the efficiency of microbial cells, so it determines the habitability of the planet.
• The biological functions of organisms cease to function at a water activity level below 0,585; the lowest known limit is demonstrated by the hardy xerophilous fungi Aspergillus penicillioides. The indicator on Venus is only 0,004. Simply put, the atmosphere on the planet turned out to be a hundred times drier than the minimum allowable level.
• For comparison, the level of water activity in the atmosphere of Mars is close to the lower limit (0,537), and on Jupiter it even exceeds the minimum allowable level.

What does it mean

Could there be life in the clouds of Venus?

• The extremely low water activity on Venus does not exclude the possibility of the existence of life on the planets. This only says that there are hardly any organisms similar to those on Earth.
• The study of Venus continues. The European Space Agency’s Science Program Committee has decided to launch EnVision to Venus. Its tasks include studying the tesserae of Venus – elevated areas of the planet’s surface – and studying the issue of geological activity. EnVision will be equipped with several spectrometers, the purpose of which will be to detect trace gases in the atmosphere of Venus and analyze the composition of the planet’s surface. NASA radar will help the device in mapping tasks.
• For other planets in the solar system, including Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, there is not enough data in 2021 to make the same analysis. But at the same time, the method of determining the suitability of a planet for life by the level of water activity is suitable for both the solar system and exoplanets.

Scientists are wrong too

• The media does not often publish denials, which breeds myths. It is not uncommon for the popular science media to publish outdated studies (which are either not reproduced experimentally or are simply out of date).
• Crisis of reproducibility. Since the beginning of the 2010s, the scientific world has been saying that many studies and experiments of the past are difficult or impossible to reproduce today for various reasons. For example, the Dunning-Kruger Effect, the Stanford Prison Experiment, the Marshmallow Experiment, studies of antidepressants and tumor markers are not reproduced. The natural and social sciences are most affected by this.

Top tip: Fact-check and develop critical thinking. For example, check the publication date (information may be true, but it is published very late), check photos through image search. For example, some photos of the fire in Australia were fake.

Finally, be careful about what or who is the source of the information. A well-known example is the New York Academy of Sciences, of which anyone can become a member for a symbolic $129 per year (almost ₽10), while calling himself an “academician” (although in fact it is only a scientific and educational NGO).