#Stinky gas discovery could point to alien life on Venus

Researchers have discovered phosphine, one of the most noxious gasses identified in nature, in the clouds of our planetary neighbor. The presence of the colorless, flammable, potentially lethal compound, a byproduct of decaying organic matter as well as some industrial processes, suggests there may be life present.

Scientists have previously identified phosphine as a potential “biosignature” of life on other planets; however, this is the first confirmation that the molecule exists in large amounts anywhere other than Earth, according to a new study published in Nature Astronomy.

“Either phosphine is produced by some sort of chemical or geological process that no-one knows about –- or there could be a biological reason,” said one study author, Emily Drabek-Maunder. The astrophysicist, at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, told The Independent. “Our study isn’t conclusive that this is evidence of life. However, what is exciting about it is that we’ve found this rare gas in the upper atmosphere of Venus.”

“Our team can’t explain the amount of phosphine that we’ve found, through our current understanding of the planet. When we try to model what’s happening in the atmosphere –- volcanic activity, sunlight, or even lightning — nothing recreates the amount of phosphine gas that we’ve seen,” Drabek-Maunder explained.

The discovery, made by astronomer Jane Greaves of Cardiff University in Wales, was a fluke: they conducted the test as a control experiment to add parameters to the future study of extraterrestrial phosphine. But scientists never imagined they’d actually find a detectable amount of phosphine — 20 parts-per-billion — on Venus.

“I thought we’d just be able to rule out extreme scenarios, like the clouds being stuffed full of organisms. When we got the first hints of phosphine in Venus’ spectrum, it was a shock,” said Greaves, who hopes to eventually send a modest spacecraft to the blazing-hot planet, to collect data below its cloudy, phosphine-rich atmosphere.

Despite waiting two years to publish her discovery, Graves told Wired, “I can wait 10 years if I have to.”