Venus’ clouds could host extraterrestrial life, researchers say

The potential for Venus’ clouds to hold life was first examined in the late 1960s through a series of space probes, but lead author Sanjay Limaye of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center says the planet’s dark patches haven’t been thoroughly explored. Instruments that have tested Venus’ atmosphere in the past were “incapable of distinguishing between materials of an organic or inorganic nature,” Newsweek reports.