Phosphine is among the stinkiest, most toxic gases on Earth, found in some of the foulest of places, including penguin dung heaps, the depths of swamps and bogs, and even in the bowels of some badgers and fish. This putrid ...
Astrobiology
Dec 19, 2019
12
3724
An international team of astronomers, led by Professor Jane Greaves of Cardiff University, today announced the discovery of a rare molecule—phosphine—in the clouds of Venus. On Earth, this gas is only made industrially, ...
Space Exploration
Sep 14, 2020
27
5785
In September, a team led by astronomers in the United Kingdom announced that they had detected the chemical phosphine in the thick clouds of Venus. The team's reported detection, based on observations by two Earth-based radio ...
Astronomy
Jan 27, 2021
8
360
A team of researchers with the University of Nottingham, Jealott's Hill International Research Centre and the GlaxoSmithKline, Medicines Research Centre, has found a way to use a phosphine oxide catalyst to make nucleophilic ...
Traces of the gas phosphine point to volcanic activity on Venus, according to new research from Cornell University.
Planetary Sciences
Jul 12, 2021
12
4703
In the absence of direct observations of extraterrestrial life, scientists often focus on searching for biosignatures, chemical by-products of life, that can be detected with remote sensing. Although Mars has received the ...
Astrobiology
Dec 2, 2022
1
108
On Sept. 14, 2020, a new planet was added to the list of potentially habitable worlds in the Solar System: Venus.
Space Exploration
Sep 18, 2020
0
136
Chemists from the University of Groningen have found a simple way to produce previously inaccessible chiral Z-alkenes, molecules that offer a significant synthetic short-cut for the production of bioactive molecules.
Biochemistry
Jan 13, 2023
0
186
The search for life on other planets has received a major boost after scientists revealed the spectral signatures of almost 1000 atmospheric molecules that may be involved in the production or consumption of phosphine, a ...
Astrobiology
Apr 9, 2021
1
3105
Earth's sister planet, Venus, has not been regarded as a high priority in the search for life. Its surface temperature of around 450°C is thought to be hostile to even the hardiest of micro-organisms, and its thick, sulfurous ...
Astronomy
Sep 15, 2020
0
29
