Is there life adrift in the clouds of Venus?

[beecee]

https://phys.org/news/2018-03-life-adrift-clouds-venus.html

In the search for extraterrestrial life, scientists have turned over all sorts of rocks.

Mars, for example, has geological features that suggest it once had—and still has—subsurface liquid water, an almost sure prerequisite for life. Scientists have also eyed Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus as well as Jupiter's moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto as possible havens for life in the oceans under their icy crusts.

Now, however, scientists are dusting off an old idea that promises a new vista in the hunt for life beyond Earth: the clouds of Venus.

In a paper published online today (March 30, 2018) in the journal Astrobiology, an international team of researchers led by planetary scientist Sanjay Limaye of the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Space Science and Engineering Center lays out a case for the atmosphere of Venus as a possible niche for extraterrestrial microbial life.

"Venus has had plenty of time to evolve life on its own," explains Limaye, noting that some models suggest Venus once had a habitable climate with liquid water on its surface for as long as 2 billion years. "That's much longer than is believed to have occurred on Mars."


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-03-life-adrift-clouds-venus.html#jCp

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the paper: 

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2017.1783

Venus' Spectral Signatures and the Potential for Life in the Clouds:

Abstract

The lower cloud layer of Venus (47.5–50.5 km) is an exceptional target for exploration due to the favorable conditions for microbial life, including moderate temperatures and pressures (∼60°C and 1 atm), and the presence of micron-sized sulfuric acid aerosols. Nearly a century after the ultraviolet (UV) contrasts of Venus' cloud layer were discovered with Earth-based photographs, the substances and mechanisms responsible for the changes in Venus' contrasts and albedo are still unknown. While current models include sulfur dioxide and iron chloride as the UV absorbers, the temporal and spatial changes in contrasts, and albedo, between 330 and 500 nm, remain to be fully explained. Within this context, we present a discussion regarding the potential for microorganisms to survive in Venus' lower clouds and contribute to the observed bulk spectra. In this article, we provide an overview of relevant Venus observations, compare the spectral and physical properties of Venus' clouds to terrestrial biological materials, review the potential for an iron- and sulfur-centered metabolism in the clouds, discuss conceivable mechanisms of transport from the surface toward a more habitable zone in the clouds, and identify spectral and biological experiments that could measure the habitability of Venus' clouds and terrestrial analogues. Together, our lines of reasoning suggest that particles in Venus' lower clouds contain sufficient mass balance to harbor microorganisms, water, and solutes, and potentially sufficient biomass to be detected by optical methods. As such, the comparisons presented in this article warrant further investigations into the prospect of biosignatures in Venus' clouds.

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[1] Should more attention be paid to looking for extra-terrestrial life on other bodies other then Mars?

[2] I have never really been a fan of "terra-forming" another planet, [ probably because obviously it would be an extremely long term exercise] but I'm curious that if we were to focus on this aspect, would Venus be easier to terraform than Mars?

[3] Obviously any potential vehicle/probe would need to be "acid proof" against H2S04: Would such materials be light enough to enable a successful Earth lift-off?

[4] In the recent past, NASA has at times discussed "Venus type cloud cities" for permanent habitation. How effective cost wise would such an exercise be in comparison to our efforts to put men on Mars? 

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Personally I see space exploration as a whole, to be extremely helpful to humankind in many respects, not the least being knowledge, and further confirmation of what most scientists already expect, particularly with possible confirmation of  Abiogenesis. 

Economics etc obviously need to be considered, but on that score, I often wonder at the amount of money that would be available to mankind's greatest ever endeavour, if all the militaristic spending around the world was redirected  and how much more beneficial it would be, if such efforts were truly an International effort. 

It's nice to dream though. 

Edited March 31, 2018 by beecee

[tuco]

It's a dream we share.

Got me interested so I searched and will share: 

Colonization of Venus- https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20030022668.pdf

I'd be surprised if anyone done any math on it, with regards to cost effectivity,  though. 

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Just a side note and no I do not want to derail as such musings belong to politics, perhaps philosophy or psychology. Economics need to be considered ... Well, yes. We could also consider the economics of all other things which do not serve any economic purpose, like I dunno 4th of July fireworks. 

Edited March 31, 2018 by tuco