Is there life on Maaaaaaars! (er, Venus)

[Moon_Goddess]

I read an article about how Venus was likely much more habitable till it's orbit got messed with by Jupiter swinging in and out. And how if there is life in the clouds, it could be the last dying examples of a once larger ecosystem.

That got me thinking. Say we find life there, and we find it's life not of earth origin, (different chemistry for dna maybe) but we find it is threatened, not by us, but by natural processes and say another 1000 years venus would be a dead world. Do we help it?

 

[Umbran]

That got me thinking. Say we find life there, and we find it's life not of earth origin, (different chemistry for dna maybe) but we find it is threatened, not by us, but by natural processes and say another 1000 years venus would be a dead world. Do we help it?

The ethical question is rather moot, in that right now we lack the resources and technology to support such a program, nor do we have the scientific understanding of Venus' processes to be of any help.

 

[ART!]

I read an article about how Venus was likely much more habitable till it's orbit got messed with by Jupiter swinging in and out. And how if there is life in the clouds, it could be the last dying examples of a once larger ecosystem.

That got me thinking. Say we find life there, and we find it's life not of earth origin, (different chemistry for dna maybe) but we find it is threatened, not by us, but by natural processes and say another 1000 years venus would be a dead world. Do we help it?

...and by trying to help it, wind up ruining it?

I'm serious, joking, and sad as I type this.

 

[Nikosandros]

One thing that it important to consider is that the presence of phosphine is yet to be confirmed. A certain rotational transition has been observed and it is compatible with phosphine , but in order to confirm we need other measurements.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

...and by trying to help it, wind up ruining it?

I'm serious, joking, and sad as I type this.

Yeah. If we were presented with this hypothetical in real life, we would probably end up killing all the life on Venus somehow.

 

[Ryujin]

Yeah. If we were presented with this hypothetical in real life, we would probably end up killing all the life on Venus somehow.

The way that our species is if we do actually find life on Venus, some group of us will just kill it on spec.

 

[Janx]

The ethical question is rather moot, in that right now we lack the resources and technology to support such a program, nor do we have the scientific understanding of Venus' processes to be of any help.

Except that as noted by arguments about going to Mars to stave off a catastrophe on Earth would foster tech advancements.

Big goals lead to big advancements.

Heck, I think you floated that concept back then.

Same thing here. If we set our hearts and minds to saving a planet's lifeforms. Maybe we could.

Granted, we don't have a good track record of getting those aforementioned hearts and minds into the right place.

That'd be the real roadblock. Not that we don't have the technology now.

 

[Umbran]

Except that as noted by arguments about going to Mars to stave off a catastrophe on Earth would foster tech advancements.

Big goals lead to big advancements.

Heck, I think you floated that concept back then.

Yep. But then, I recognize the difference between apples and oranges - Mars and Venus are completely different environments. And building a colony on the surface of Mars is not comparable to trying to enact ecological change on Venus.

Same thing here. If we set our hearts and minds to saving a planet's lifeforms. Maybe we could.

"Maybe we could," is too open ended. Maybe we could get to the galactic core, too.

Given how we seem unable to manage something so simple as our own carbon emissions? I am dubious about changing ecological conditions on Venus is within our grasp for the next few centuries.

 

[Morrus]

Yeah. If we somehow become able to basically terraform planets, its much easier to do it here. There’s plenty of inhospitable bits of Earth even without taking climate change into account.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

One thing that it important to consider is that the presence of phosphine is yet to be confirmed. A certain rotational transition has been observed and it is compatible with phosphine , but in order to confirm we need other measurements.

For some reason, I just had this mental image of hotboxing Venusians getting mad at one of their buddies for venting the phosphine where the humans could detect it...

”DUUUUUUDE! You want them to come here and harsh our vibe?”