00:00So, Venus and Earth are so different that a foolish question like, what's longer, a
00:05day or a year, that makes absolutely no sense on Earth, totally makes sense on Venus.
00:11A day on Venus is indeed longer than a year.
00:14If we put it into Earth's perspective, a day on Venus would equal 243 Earth days, while
00:21a year would only last 225 days.
00:24So it's like your birthday is every day.
00:27Venus is often nicknamed Earth's evil twin.
00:31Their differences are so stark, you'd think they're from different galaxies altogether.
00:36Just to give you an idea of how far apart they are.
00:39If the day-to-year ratio wasn't enough, the Earth rises in the west on Venus but sets
00:44in the east.
00:46These days, one of the very few similarities between these two is their size.
00:51But try to imagine a time when Venus and Earth were like peas in a pod, besties since the
00:56beginning of the Solar System.
00:58Venus used to be the life of the party.
01:01NASA scientists think Venus might've even hosted a liquid water ocean and surface temperatures
01:06that could've welcomed life for up to 2 billion years.
01:10But modern-day Venus is a different story.
01:13We're talking extreme temperatures and a thick carbon dioxide atmosphere.
01:18So what led to this cosmic makeover?
01:21Size, location, and attitude.
01:23I mean that the distance from the Sun and internal heat played a huge role in shaping
01:28Venus and Earth's destinies.
01:31By the way, there used to be three siblings that could've hosted life – Venus, Earth,
01:35and Mars.
01:37Imagine three cupcakes in an oven.
01:39Once they were fully baked, they were taken out of the oven.
01:42One of them was put in front of an open window in the middle of winter.
01:46Another was carefully placed on a table and covered with a nice clean kitchen towel.
01:51And the last one was accidentally forgotten and left in the oven.
01:55Oops.
01:56Mars, Earth, and Venus are like those cupcakes.
01:59Mars got too cold and not welcoming.
02:01Earth is still nice and warm and well-protected from all the unpleasant things.
02:06Just like the towel protects that lucky cupcake.
02:09And Venus got scorching hot and impossible to consume.
02:13In terms of development, Earth took the slow and steady route, maintaining its ocean's
02:18stable atmosphere and biodiversity.
02:20Venus, on the other hand, cranked up the temperature, evaporated its oceans, and went all-in with
02:26greenhouse gases.
02:28As a result, we have a planet where you'll melt faster than a snowman in July.
02:33Mars, on the contrary, will turn you into an ice popsicle within seconds.
02:38But chances are, it might've been pretty hospitable at some point.
02:42Some scientists believe that Mars used to be covered with flowing rivers and lakes and
02:47had no water shortages.
02:49Even today, Mars still has an ocean called Oceanus Borealis, or rather, the remains of
02:55what once used to be an ocean.
02:57It lost nearly all its water over time.
02:59Now, the sources of water on Mars include polar ice caps and minerals and rocks.
03:05According to estimates, only 1% of all that water evaporated, while 99% is still locked
03:12in the Red Planet.
03:14Ice polar caps are pretty simple to understand, as we have the same thing on Earth.
03:19But rocks containing water?
03:21Simple.
03:22There are at least 4 types of hydrous minerals on Mars.
03:26There are hydrous clays made of silicon oxygen, and the cool thing about them is that they
03:31can even contain magnesium and iron, which are sulfur-based hydrous sulfates.
03:36Now, don't you – I know you thought of the smell of rotten eggs – but it's typical
03:41of hydrogen sulfur, not just sulfur.
03:44These minerals have water incorporated right into their chemical formulas.
03:48There's also hydrous silica, which has water locked in its formula too.
03:53Scientists have experimented with growing plants using Martian-like conditions and found
03:58success with alfalfa.
04:00Harvesting alfalfa also helped improve the growth of other crops, like turnips and lettuce.
04:06While water may be available on the Red Planet, the air on Mars is mostly carbon dioxide.
04:12On the bright side – and we are – the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment
04:18or MARSOxE can produce oxygen on Mars, which could be crucial for future missions.
04:25As for energy sources on Mars, solar, wind, and geothermal energy are a few promising
04:30options.
04:31Solar power is less effective on Mars due to weaker sunlight and dust storms.
04:36But wind power and geothermal energy could serve as reliable alternatives.
04:41With these sources in place, humans could potentially sustain life on Mars.
04:46But let's get back to comparing our sibling planets.
04:50While both Mars and Earth have moons, and Mars even has two of them, Venus has zero,
04:55just like Mercury.
04:57Due to its proximity to the Sun and the star's gravitational pull, Mercury lacks the ability
05:03to retain its own moon.
05:05The likelihood of any moon orbiting Mercury either colliding with the planet or being
05:09drawn into the orbit of the Sun is high.
05:12That's all clear and understandable.
05:14But the absence of moons around Venus remains an unsolved puzzle for scientists.
05:20Despite Venus' scorching hot temperatures, scientists think that even today, it might
05:25not be as hostile to life as we once thought.
05:29A recent MIT study found 19 amino acids surviving in a Venus-like solution for the whole month.
05:35Yep, some like it hot.
05:38Also, Rocket Lab and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are teaming up to send an uncrewed
05:44spacecraft, Venus LifeFinder, on a mission to Venus.
05:48This spacecraft will search for signs of life in the Venusian atmosphere using a special
05:53instrument called an autofluorescing nephelometer.
05:56And no, I didn't make that up.
05:58Originally set to launch in 2023, the mission is now pushed back to December 2024 with arrival
06:05at Venus in May 2025.
06:08The goal of the mission is to discover organic compounds in Venus' atmosphere, which could
06:13point to the possibility of habitable conditions in the cloud layer.
06:17The spacecraft is designed with a Photon Explorer cruise stage and a compact atmospheric probe
06:23equipped with that nephelometer thingy.
06:26The small probe will descend through the Venusian atmosphere, collecting data on cloud particles
06:31and organic compounds.
06:33In 2020, scientists made a big announcement about finding phosphine on Venus, a compound
06:39that could be linked to life.
06:41While they're still working on confirming this, using information from telescopes or
06:45even past missions, there might be evidence hidden in old NASA data received from Venus
06:51that could shed more light on the discovery.
06:54The potential presence of phosphine on Venus has stirred excitement and caution among scientists.
07:00To make sure, they need more data from telescopes or new space missions.
07:04If they find this gas, it might mean there is some form of life producing it in the planet's
07:10clouds.
07:11This discovery would be a huge step toward understanding Venus better.
07:15Some experts think that sending probes to Venus to directly detect phosphine would be
07:20the most effective way to confirm its presence.
07:23An 80s NASA mission may have already detected phosphine, but scientists back then didn't
07:29realize it.
07:30Now, this data is being re-evaluated to uncover any overlooked evidence of the presence of
07:35the gas.
07:37This could also suggest that the compound has been in Venus' atmosphere for decades,
07:42raising questions about its source.
07:44But not everyone is convinced of this interpretation, which evokes a debate among scientists about
07:49the true nature of the detected gases.
07:53Old data from other missions may also hold clues about phosphate on Venus.
07:57While new spacecraft are going to explore the planet, it's possible that the key to
08:02unlocking this mystery lies in decades-old mission records.
08:06In total, there have been 46 space missions to Venus, including some flybys where gravity
08:12lent a helping hand.
08:14The last time we successfully landed a spacecraft on Venus was way back in June 1985 as part
08:21of the Vega 2 mission.
08:23So, let's see what Venus' life finder will discover.
08:26That's it for today, so hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like
08:32and share it with your friends!
08:34Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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