The study also indicated that Jupiter\u2019s clouds have a high enough concentration of water, as well as the correct temperature, for life to exist there.<\/p>\n

Dr Hallsworth commented: \u201cOur research shows that the sulphuric acid clouds in Venus have too little water for active life to exist, based on what we know of life on Earth. We have also found that the conditions of water and temperature within Jupiter\u2019s clouds could allow microbial-type life to subsist, assuming that other requirements such as nutrients are present.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a timely finding given that NASA and the European Space Agency just announced three missions to Venus in the coming years. One of these will take measurements of Venus\u2019s atmosphere that we will be able to compare with our finding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Philip Ball, co-author of the report, an expert on physics and chemical biology of water, explained: \u201cThe search for extraterrestrial life has sometimes been a bit simplistic in its attitude to water. As our work shows, it\u2019s not enough to say that liquid water equates with habitability. We\u2019ve got to think too about how Earth-like organisms actually use it \u2013 which shows us that we then have to ask how much of the water is actually available for those biological uses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Co-author of the report, NASA-based planetary scientist Prof Christopher P. McKay, added: \u201cWe derive water activity of atmospheres without a model of any sort, based only on direct observations of pressure, temperature, and water concentration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Hallsworth concluded: \u201cWe have also performed calculations for Mars and Earth and show that these calculations can be done for planets outside our solar system. While our research doesn\u2019t claim that alien (microbial-type) life does exist on other planets in our solar system, it shows that if the water activity and other conditions are right, then such life could exist in places where we haven\u2019t previously been looking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further information<\/h3>\n

The research involved the participation of planetary scientist Christopher P. McKay (NASA Ames Research Center, CA, USA); atmosphere chemistry expert Thomas Koop (Bielefeld University, Germany); physics and chemical biology of water expert Philip Ball; biomolecular scientist Tiffany D. Dallas (Queen\u2019s University Belfast); biophysics-of-lipid-membrane expert Marcus K. Dymond (University of Brighton, UK); theoretical physicist Mar\u00eda-Paz Zorzano (Centro de Astrobiologia [CSIC-INTA], Spain); micrometeorology and aerosol expert Juergen Burkhardt (University of Bonn, Germany); expert on acid-tolerant microorganisms Olga V. Golyshina (Bangor University, UK); and atmospheric physicist and planetary scientist Javier Mart\u00edn-Torres (University of Aberdeen, UK).<\/p>\n

This novel study was funded by Research Councils UK (RCUK), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Ministry of Science and Innovation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Groundbreaking research conducted by scientists at Queen’s University Belfast indicates that Jupiter\u2019s clouds hold the correct conditions to host life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":12877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[771],"tags":[818,801,3477,809],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n