Astronomers say Venus may not have any signs of life after all

By Leah Crane

The evidence for life on Venus is mixed

ESO / M. Kornmesser & NASA / JPL / Caltech

A new analysis suggests that Venus may not be high in phosphine after all. The announcement in September of observations of phosphine gas in the Venusian atmosphere caused excitement as there was a possibility that it could have come from life. However, researchers searching archival data have strictly determined how much of the unexpected gas is actually present.

Following the original discovery, Clara Sousa-Silva of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts – who also participated in the research announced in September – and her …