Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: excited

Phosphene on Venus

Scientists have discovered phosphene on Venus, a possible sign of life.  My thoughts:

1) :D  Let's go to Venus!  \o/  

2) Just because we don't know of  a natural production method, doesn't mean there isn't one.

3) Life finds a way.  We have microbes that live in boiling springs, so microbes on Venus are not implausible.

Note that Item 1 applies to both Item 2 and Item 3.  We could discover life; we could learn more about how phosphene happens; it's all nifty.

My inner scientist is a mongoose: Run and find out!
Tags: news, science
Subscribe

  • A Little Slice of Terramagne: YardMap

    Sadly the main program is dormant, but the YardMap concept is awesome, and many of its informative articles remain. YardMap was a citizen science…

  • Winterfest in July Bingo Card 7-1-21

    Here is my card for the Winterfest in July Bingo fest. It runs from July 1-30. Celebrate all the holidays and traditions of winter! ( See all my…

  • Goldenrod Gall Contents

    Apparently all kinds of things go on inside goldenrod galls, beyond the caterpillars who make them. Fascinating. I've seen the galls but haven't…

  • Post a new comment

    Error

    switch
    default userpic

    Your IP address will be recorded 

    When you submit the form an invisible reCAPTCHA check will be performed.
    You must follow the Privacy Policy and Google Terms of use.
    Help
  • 2 comments
polydad

Simple Life

polydad

September 20 2020, 04:29:10 UTC 9 months ago

I'd read a well-written science article recently, which I now regrettably cannot find, suggesting that Fermi's Great Filter is the barrier between single-celled and multicellular life. By this argument, we should be finding pond-scum everywhere, but rarely even anything as complex as a lichen.

I'm disappointed by this -- not very satisfying, petting pond scum -- but it seems likely.

So yay for life on Venus, but I'm not expecting a whole lot.
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Simple Life

ysabetwordsmith

September 20 2020, 04:49:16 UTC 9 months ago

Nah. Complexity is not only easy, it's inevitable given suitable circumstances, and life is extremely unpicky about "suitable." Life is a syntropic process, always evolving toward greater complexity.

The hardest part is the first jump to surviving in a hostile environment. It's harder to go from ocean to land than from atmosphere to space.

That said, simple life is still easier to support than complex life. I would expect single-celled and small multicelled life to appear much more often than fancier things like insects. But don't write off lichens. Those things are really fucking durable, and they can colonize almost anything because their symbiosis gives them a dual metabolism. And tardigrades, those things are damn near indestructible.