"금성 대기에서 생명체 가능성 탐지"

The detection of a specific type of gas in the clouds of Venus has surprised scientists.
It has left them wrestling with a big question: could it be a sign of alien life on the inhospitable planet?
Kim Hyo-sun reports.
New research published in the journal 'Nature Astronomy' on Monday described in detail the latest discovery of phosphine gas in the clouds of Venus,... that is produced by microbes.
Researchers have looked into why such toxic gas is forming in the atmosphere,... but they've found nothing so far to explain it.
The mystery raises the possibility that Venus might be home to a form of life flourishing in its clouds, which contain no water.
While the researchers did not discover actual life forms, they noted that on Earth, bacteria thriving in oxygen-starved environments have been detected.
"We think something is, a process that's making it and one of the possibilities is it's small, floating organisms and the reason we think that is because there are small bacteria on Earth that do actually make phosphine."
They explain that on Earth, phosphine comes from microorganisms breaking down decaying plants and animals without oxygen,... adding it also arises non-biologically in certain industrial settings.
Venus, our closest planetary neighbor,... is similar in structure but slightly smaller than Earth.
It's widely known to be inhabitable with surface temperatures reaching a scorching 470 degrees Celsius.
Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.