An analysis of the news report "life on Venus" based on the paper published in Nature Astronomy
* the paper reports a possible detection of PH3. A single line was detected after heavy data processing (for molecular line detections, usually 2 or more lines are required). Quote from the Discussion section of the paper: "confirmation is always important for a single-transition detection. Other PH transitions should be sought"
* Various formation mechanisms are discussed in the paper and rejected as not possible in Venus, leaving life as a possible origin
* News release issued by European Southern Observatory "possible marker of life spotted on Venus" https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2015/ and interviews were given by the authors with the news media on possible life on Venus
* News stories of life on Venus were carried in many international news agencies
Context of the discovery
* PH3 has been detected in Jupiter, Saturn, and the evolved star IRC+20216
* no known chemical reactions can produce the observed amounts of PH3 in IRC+10216 and the same is true for many other stellar molecules
* organic molecules, even very complex ones, are commonly found in the solar system, stellar envelopes, interstellar medium, and galaxies. Their origins are poorly understood.
Questions: is the detection of PH3 an indication of life or the result of our lack of theoretical understanding of cosmic chemistry? Does the scientific result justify the extensive public news exposure?
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