Nightflight to Venus
(World News Science)

High in the toxic atmosphere of the planet Venus, astronomers on Earth have discovered signs of what might be life. If the discovery is confirmed by additional telescope observations and future space missions, it could turn the gaze of scientists towards one of the brightest objects in the night sky. Few have focussed on Venus — cloaked by clouds that contain droplets of corrosive sulphuric acid — as a habitat for something living. The astronomers, who reported the finding in a pair of papers, have with powerful telescopes detected a chemical — phosphine — in the thick Venus atmosphere. After much analysis, the scientists assert that something now alive is the only...