Strange science 😦

[Thumpalumpacus]

A Bold Mission to Hunt for Aliens on Venus Is Actually Happening

A UK-based mission is aiming to settle, once and for all, whether life exists on Venus. The mission plans to send a probe to the planet in search of microbial life, not on the surface, of course, but in the Venusian clouds.

Over the past half-decade, scientists have detected the presence of phosphine and ammonia—two potential signs of biological activity—in Venus’s clouds. On Earth, both gases are produced only by biological activity and industrial processes, and scientists are unsure of their origin on Venus.

The mission, called the Venus Explorer for Reduced Vapours in the Environment (VERVE), will send a CubeSat-sized probe aboard the European Space Agency’s EnVision mission—a larger mission designed to probe Venus’s surface and interior, scheduled for launch in 2031. VERVE will detach upon arrival and carry out an independent atmospheric survey.

https://gizmodo.com/a-bold-mission-to-hu...2000627704


Which reminds me that some years ago Russians found scorpions on Venus



https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna46106343

Carl Sagan back in the 70s proposed an idea to terraform Venus starting with seeding the clouds there with single-celled lifeforms in order to slowly change the atmosphere, and thus undercut the runaway greenhouse that made it too hot to support life. I don't remember the details. I think he floated it in The Dragons of Eden; I could be wrong about that as well.