some good press. Recently, a team of international astronomers announced the discovery of a rare

一些好的媒體。近日，一個國際天文學家團隊宣佈發現了一種罕見的?

gas called phosphine in the planet's atmosphere, leaving some to believe it may be a sign of

磷化氫氣體在行星的大氣層中，讓一些人認為這可能是一個信號

potential life on the hellish planet. Venus is not a place you'd consider settling

潛在的生命在地獄般的星球上。金星不是一個你會考慮定居的地方 Venus is not a place you'd consider settling

down. Despite its proximity to Earth and similarity in size, Venus has surface temperatures hot

下。儘管金星離地球很近，大小也很相似，但金星的表面溫度卻很高。

enough to melt lead, crushing air pressure, and ultra-dense clouds

足以融化鉛，粉碎氣壓，超密集雲層。

made up mostly of corrosive sulfuric acid. It's no wonder that the search for life

主要由腐蝕性的硫酸組成。難怪對生命的探求

has been focused on Mars. Yet in June 2017, astronomers made a surprising

一直關注著火星。然而在2017年6月，天文學家卻做出了一個驚人的

find while examining data captured by the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii. Radio

在研究夏威夷的詹姆斯-克拉克-麥克斯韋望遠鏡捕捉到的數據時發現。射電

telescopes like this take advantage of the fact that atoms and molecules absorb and emit

這樣的望遠鏡利用了原子和分子吸收和發射的事實。

specific frequencies, leaving “fingerprints” that can be used to identify chemical compounds

特定的頻率，留下 "指紋"，可用於識別化合物。

over astronomical distances. A tell-tale dip in the spectrum showed that

在天文距離上。頻譜中的一個明顯的下降顯示了：

phosphine, more commonly expected to be found on Earth, was somehow present in the upper

磷化氫，更常見於地球上的磷化氫，以某種方式存在於地球的上層。

clouds of Venus. Which is weird, because there shouldn't be any at all! In 2019, the ALMA

金星的雲。這很奇怪，因為根本就不應該有任何雲彩!在2019年，ALMA

telescope confirmed the findings, revealing roughly 20 parts per billion of phosphine.

望遠鏡證實了這一發現，揭示了大約十億分之二十的磷化氫。

So, what exactly is phosphine? This pyramid-shaped molecule is considered by some scientists

那麼，磷化氫到底是什麼呢？這種金字塔形的分子被一些科學家認為是

as a potential biomarker, meaning that it could hint at the presence of life. For a

作為一種潛在的生物標誌物，意味著它可以暗示生命的存在。對於一個

molecule associated with living things, it's shocking how hostile phosphine actually is.

與生物相關的分子，磷化氫到底有多大的敵意，令人震驚。

It's incredibly toxic, explosive, and smells absolutely terrible — think garlic or rotten

它是令人難以置信的毒性，爆炸性，和氣味絕對可怕 - 想想大蒜或腐爛的。

fish. In labs, it's used to make fumigants and chemical weapons. And yet, some anaerobic

魚。在實驗室裡，它被用來製造熏蒸劑和化學武器。然而，一些厭氧的

microbes, which don't require oxygen to live, are believed to be particularly good

微生物，不需要氧氣就能生存，被認為是特別好的生物。

at naturally producing phosphine. Which is why it can be found in oxygen-starved environments

在自然產生磷化氫。這就是為什麼它能在缺氧的環境中被發現的原因。

like marshlands, penguin poop, and even some animals' intestines.

比如沼澤地、企鵝的糞便，甚至是一些動物的腸子。

And theories on whether the elements of life can be found on Venus have been made, too.

而關於金星上是否能找到生命元素的理論，也已經被提出。

Despite the planet having such an hostile environment, Carl Sagan hypothesized that

儘管地球上有如此惡劣的環境，卡爾-薩根卻假設

life could potentially exist in a section of Venus' atmosphere. Here, cloud layers

生命可能存在於金星的大氣層中在這裡，雲層

higher up can have temperatures as low as 30°C, with air pressure similar to that found

更高處的溫度可以低至30°C，氣壓也與之相似。

on Earth's surface. But, before we get too excited about microbial

在地球表面但是，在我們對微生物太過興奮之前

life on Venus, here's a reality check. The evidence we have so far isn't specimens,

金星上的生命，這裡是一個現實的檢查。我們目前所擁有的證據並不是標本 The evidence we have so far isn't specimens,

or photos. It's data observed at a distance, and faint signals on bright planets can be

或照片。這是在遠處觀測到的數據，明亮行星上的微弱信號可以被。

very difficult to interpret despite our best efforts.

儘管我們盡了最大努力，但還是很難解釋。

But this isn't the first time we've come across phosphine on another planet. For example,

但這不是我們第一次在其他星球上遇到磷化氫。例如：

in 2009, NASA's Cassini spacecraft found phosphine deep in the atmospheric layers of

2009年，美國宇航局的 "卡西尼 "號航天器發現了深藏在大氣層中的磷化氫。

Jupiter and Saturn, but it was determined that the immense heat and pressure on those

木星和土星上的巨大的熱量和壓力

gas giants, not life, fused phosphorus and hydrogen atoms together. Those types of conditions

氣體巨人，而不是生命，將磷和氫原子融合在一起。這些類型的條件

don't exist on rocky planets like Earth and Venus, so it's currently thought that

不存在於像地球和金星這樣的岩石行星上，所以目前人們認為。

terrestrial planets can't produce phosphine without life.

地面行星沒有生命就無法產生磷化氫。

And phosphine takes a decent amount of energy to create, and could be easily broken down

而磷化氫的產生需要大量的能量，很容易被分解掉

by sunlight or sulfuric acid present in Venus' atmosphere, so it needs to somehow be constantly

陽光或金星大氣層中的硫酸，所以它需要以某種方式不斷地

renewed. The team modeled Venus' environment to see if they could rule out non-biological

續。研究小組模擬了金星的環境，看能否排除非生物的。

causes like volcanic or tectonic activity, lightning, or even meteorites. But as of yet,

諸如火山或構造活動、閃電、甚至隕石等原因。但截至目前。

these sources account for at most one ten thousandth of the amount of phosphine detected.

這些來源最多隻佔檢測到的磷化氫數量的萬分之一。

However, living microbes COULD emit enough phosphine, and would continually replace the

然而，生活中的微生物會釋放出足夠的磷化氫，並會不斷地替換掉這些磷化氫。

rapidly decaying gas. Of course, any life found on Venus would have to be very different

迅速腐爛的氣體當然，在金星上發現的任何生命都必須是非常不同的

from its cousins on Earth to survive the extreme acidity. And if it isn't life, the phosphine

從地球上的表親那裡得到的，以便在極度的酸性中生存。如果這不是生命，那就是磷化氫

on Venus would likely come from a chemical process we don't understand yet.

金星上的金星很可能來自一個我們還不瞭解的化學過程。

While this discovery is exciting, we still need more data in order to confirm whether

雖然這一發現令人振奮，但我們仍然需要更多的數據來確認是否有

or not Venus is a potential candidate for life. The team is planning to do just that

金星是否是潛在的生命候選人。該團隊正計劃這樣做

— along with the help of future space missions. Like the Indian Space Research Organization

- 隨著未來空間任務的幫助。像印度空間研究組織

or ISRO, that's planning to send a probe around 2023 and NASA also has two proposed

或ISRO，計劃在2023年前後發送探測器，美國宇航局也有兩個擬議的

missions in the works. One of humanity's most profound questions is whether or not we're

工作中的任務。人類最深刻的問題之一是，我們是否是。

alone in the universe. And each new mission could bring us one step closer to the answer.

宇宙中的孤獨而每一個新的任務都能讓我們離答案更近一步。

To learn more about Earth's evil twin, check out this episode here. So do you think more

想要了解更多關於地球邪惡雙胞胎的資訊，請點擊這裡查看本期節目。所以，你是否覺得更

missions should be sent to Venus? Let us down in the comments. Make sure to subscribe to

任務應該被送往金星？請在評論中告訴我們。請務必訂閱

Seeker and thanks so much for watching.

求助者，非常感謝你的觀看。