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New Scientist: Venus' Atmosphere Implies Life

Posted by chrisd on from the conway-would-be-proud dept.

WolfWithoutAClause writes "This New Scientist article says that the atmosphere of Venus has features that may only be explaineable by the existence of life in its upper atmosphere. In particular it has cartain chemicals which are extremely difficult to make inorganically. At the altitude where life is suspected the temperature is about 70C and about 1 atmosphere. There are gases there which are not naturally found together. The article suggests something is actively producing them, quite possibly, life."

8 of 268 comments (clear)

  1. Life on Venus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Gotta be female. After all, Men are from Mars, etc.

  2. Is it worth getting excited about? by Zakabog · · Score: 5, Funny

    Shopkeeper: "... I must warn you they've found life on venus."

    Homer: "That's bad."

    Shopkeeper: "But it was only some bugs!"

    Homer: "That's good!"

    Shopkeeper: "The news was reported on New Scientist."

    Homer: "That's bad."

    Shopkeeper: "But they don't require you to register!"

    Homer: "That's good!"

    Shopkeeper: "They log your IP address and keep logs of all the pages you go to."

    [Silence; Homer looks puzzled]

    Shopkeeper: "That's bad."

    Homer: "Can I go now?"

  3. Yo ho let's go by spankfish · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let's terraform the bastards before they evolve into ten foot tall insection beasts with razor sharp teeth, glistening with demonic slobber.

    Terraform Venus Now!

    --

    NO TOUCH MONKEY!
  4. oh great. by sawilson · · Score: 5, Funny

    New York Times August 10th, 2010

    KILLER VENUS MICROBE BROUGHT BACK BY SWEDEN
    "EATS EVERYTHING"

    You must have an account to read full text of
    story. :)

    --

    The most important thing any republican needs to know.
  5. We have Found Lando Calrissian's Hideout by egommer · · Score: 4, Funny

    We may have found Lando's Cloud City. We must inform the Emperor. The Imeprial have already been dispatched. The rebel resistance will be crushed.

    Regards,

    D.V.

    --
    Two Towers-Two Worlds.One seeks triumphs and freedom for man.The other deems man unworthy and wrecks them.
  6. Re:Life? by matrix29 · · Score: 3, Funny

    There are more than a few explanations for that, I hate New Scientist, they jump to conclusions too often in an effort to drum up interest in their articles.

    Or just to play head games with people for laughs. Eggs are good for you today and now they're bad for you again and now they're good for you again. Confusing isn't it?

    And of course The ONION's take on this whimsy science... From FussyMonkey.COM (a wonderful archive of "The ONION RADIO NEWS")
    http://www.fussymonkey.com/orn/

    Snickering
    Researchers Say Dog Urine Lowers The Risk Of Heart Disease

    --
    "Face it, a nation that maintains a 72% approval rating on George W. Bush is a nation with a very loose grip on reality.
  7. Beautiful logic! by gloohufr · · Score: 3, Funny
    Highlight of the report:
    This gas is so difficult to produce inorganically that it is sometimes considered an unambiguous indicator of biological activity.
    But sometimes *not* an unambiguous indicator? Could that make it...let's see... *always* an *ambiguous* indicator?

    **keep your eyes on my buh buh-buh-buh bump**
  8. Venus' Atmosphere Implies 4.7GHz Pentiums by vaxer · · Score: 3, Funny

    Gee, this sounds familiar.

    Temperature of 70C... check.
    Earth-normal air pressure... check.

    My God! Venus' atmosphere is just like the inside of a tricked-out 4.7GHz tower with neon and Nixie tubes.

    NASA can save their money looking for life in an atmosphere like that. I've been to LAN parties -- you're not going to find a life anywhere near a box like that.