--- title: "Researchers: Signs of Life on Venus Actually Explosive Volcanoes" description: "A team of researchers argue that the discovery of phosphine gas in the Venusian atmosphere is a sign of explosive volcanic activity, not life." date: "2021-07-13" modified: "2021-07-13" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/researchers-signs-life-venus-actually-explosive-volcanoes" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "NASA" - "the digest" - "Venus" - "venus life" --- # Researchers: Signs of Life on Venus Actually Explosive Volcanoes ![A team of researchers argue that the discovery of phosphine gas in the Venusian atmosphere is a sign of explosive volcanic activity, not life.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Active Venus Scientists were [baffled by the discovery]() of phosphine gas in Venus's atmosphere last year. They hailed the discovery as a slim-but-real sign that microbial life could survive in the clouds high above the planet's blistering surface below — since, back on Earth, the gas can be the result of organic processes. But now, a team of researchers from Cornell University are throwing cold water on that hypothesis. They argue that the gas is evidence for the presence of something completely different: explosive, volcanic activity — yet another twist in the decades long quest to unravel the roiling planet's many mysteries. ## Geological Mystery The theory goes that phosphides, which are compounds that contain phosphorus, are ejected into the atmosphere via volcanic activity. These compounds then react with sulfuric acid present in the Venusian atmosphere to form phosphine. "The phosphine is not telling us about the biology of Venus," said Jonathan Lunine, professor of physical sciences at Cornell, who co-authored a new study alongside doctoral geology candidate Ngoc Truong, in [a statement](). "It's telling us about the geology. Science is pointing to a planet that has active explosive volcanism today or in the very recent past." The researchers' model suggests that "Venus might be subject to episodes of active volcanism and magmas originating deep in the mantle and brought up by plume volcanism," according to [their paper](), published today in the *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences*. According to Truong, the active volcano hypothesis also aligns with some unusual geological features spotted by NASA's Magellan spacecraft during a 1990 flyby. [High-quality radar images]() taken at the time suggest that the Venusian surface is covered in volcano-like protrusions and lava channels. ## Hints of Volcanism Not everybody agrees. "We do not think that deep mantle plume volcanism can produce sufficient amounts of phosphine to explain the observations," MIT's Janusz Petkowski, member of the team that made the phosphine discovery last year, [told *New Scientist*](). He also pointed out that we're not entirely sure how much phosphorus there really is in the planet's mantle. "Unfortunately, we’re sitting here with these little hints of volcanism from all these pieces of circumstantial evidence, phosphine included," Lunine told *New Scientist*. "We don’t know what Venus is capable of." Fortunately, both the [European Space Agency]() and [NASA]() recently announced they are launching a total of three missions to explore Venus in the coming years. Perhaps then, we'll get a better idea. **READ MORE:** [Strange gas in Venus’s clouds may be a sign of volcanoes, not life]() \[*New Scientist*\] **More on Venus:** *[Europe Is Also Sending a Spacecraft to Explore Venus, a Blazing Hellhole]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()