It was reported is October 2020 that the announcement regarding discovery of phosphine gas in the atmosphere of Venus seems to have annoyed a section of astrobiologists at the global professional body of astronomers, known as the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which has expressed concern at some media outlets apparently reporting that evidence of life on Venus had been found, and has blamed the researchers for it.
In September 2020, a group of international astronomers announced that they had discovered the presence of phosphine gas in the atmosphere of Venus. Their results had been published in the journal, Nature Astronomy. Phosphine, a colourless but smelly gas, is known to be produced in nature only in biological processes, by some species of bacteria that survive in the absence of oxygen, though there are some other ways also in which this chemical might be produced.
Controversy As per the statement, issued by Astrobiology Commission of IAU (F3), it is an ethical duty for any scientist to communicate with the media and the public with great scientific rigour and to be careful not to overstate any interpretation, which is irretrievably picked up by the press and generates great public attention particularly in the case of life beyond Earth. That’s why the way results about phosphine were reported led some news organisations to report that evidence for life on Venus was found. Such a reaction by the press would reflect high interest in astrobiology research by the public, but would also mislead the public, and might be harmful to the advancement of astrobiology, which is the branch of science that studies the possibility of extra-terrestrial life.
The commission also reminded the concerned researchers that they need to understand how the press and the media behave before communicating with them. Keeping a good relationship with the press is important since they have great power to disseminate research results to the public. However, the press should be provided with sufficient background information to enable them to report research outcomes as faithfully and scientifically as possible. The commission also cited one previous similar research finding in 1996. The report said that there was a possible indication of micro-fossils in a Martian meteorite, which had generated lots of discussion. Unfortunately, that could never be proved.
However, the IAU did not agree with the statement issued by one of its own commissions. The IAU media contact, Lars Lindberg Christensen expressed in an email response that the statement was not from the IAU but from F3. The IAU does not agree with the statement. Several other scientists also disregarded the statement.
The announcement had triggered huge excitement about the possibility of biological processes happening in Venus, and by extension, the possibility of life outside Earth. However, the researchers were cautious to repeatedly emphasise that phosphine in itself did not mean that there were life forms on Venus, and that many more investigations needed to be carried out. In fact, the discovery was made in 2017 and the announcement came only three years later, because researchers were trying to check and recheck their data.
Courtesy: Indian Express