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Scientists are trying to determine if a possible sign of life seen in the clouds of Venus is really there.
Why is this important: The news that researchers may have spotted a signal from gaseous phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus was greeted with enthusiasm by the public and scientists, heralded as a possible sign that microbes could live in the clouds of the planet.
The plot: Now, the researchers behind the study and others are not so sure the gas signal is real.
- Some researchers have criticized the way the data used for the phosphine result – which was collected to the limits of currently available technology – was processed, suggesting that the phosphine signal was in fact just noise.
- Data from the ALMA Observatory used to report phosphine have also been taken offline for reprocessing.
- After this reprocessing was completed, the scientists behind the original study found that the phosphine signal may still be there, but weaker than what the original data showed.
“Now that’s a lower detection,” said Clara Sousa-Silva, one of the authors of the original phosphine study. “To be completely honest, I don’t know where I’m leaning. I find trends to be problematic in science, so I try not to lean, and just like the rest of the world wait for confirmation of anyway.”
And after: Scientists probably need new data.
- Researchers are planning new observations, but Venus is currently on the other side of the Sun, making it impossible to observe from Earth.
- Scientists are also hoping that whatever happens with phosphine, this possible discovery has sparked enthusiasm to launch new missions to Venus.
- If the signal turns out to be real, the researchers still haven’t found viable alternative explanations for how phosphine might be on Venus without the possible presence of life, Sousa-Silva added.
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