Why Venus Turned into Earth's Evil Twin

Bright Side

Venus, Earth's closest sibling, used to have oceans and lakes like Earth, but now it's a super hot and pressurized place. The main reason for this is that Venus is closer to the sun, getting more energy which made its atmosphere much harsher over billions of years. Unlike Earth, Mars lost its early atmosphere because its smaller size couldn't hold onto it, especially after volcanic activity slowed and stopped. Venus, being so close to the sun, had its oceans boil away, and volcanoes kept pumping out carbon dioxide, a strong greenhouse gas. Earth's oceans help control carbon dioxide by absorbing it and turning it into rock, which is why it's so important to protect them.  Credit: Cratera Gusev: By NASA/JPL/Cornell, https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06770, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=259706 VikingLander2: By NASA - http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery-mars.html, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22261758 MOXIE: By NASA/JPL-Caltech, https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/a-day-full-of-moxie/ Mars Perseverance Rover: By NASA/JPL-Caltech - https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24202, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99042382 AncientMars: By Ittiz, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7861829 CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0: By Rocket Lab: Venus Life Finder: https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/9/8/445#, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=145090980 Venus Life Finder Probe: https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/9/9/492#, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=145230945 Venus Life Finder Descent: https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/9/8/445#, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=145231341 Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

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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