Michael Rosenthal

(10/2020) I’ve always been fascinated by the possibility of life on other planets. Growing up with a dual interest in Real Science and Science Fiction, I could usually tell the difference, but that did not lessen my interest in science fiction. I was a subscriber to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction for many years, and I still have boxes of them in my basement. Are there any collectors out there who want to make a deal?

Recent news indicates there is potential for life on Venus, our nearest planetary neighbor, and the basis of this speculation is … chemistry! The recent detection of a particular molecule of gas in its atmosphere by an international team of scientists was recently published, and reopens the topic of life (maybe not humans!) on other planets. It’s hard for me to imagine, as a scientist, that life exists only on Earth!

Near the top of the acidic clouds that blanket Mars scientists have detected phosphine, a simple molecule, PH3, produced on earth by bacteria and through certain industrial processes. Phosphorous has the same outer electron configuration as nitrogen, hence its relationship chemically to ammonia, NH3. Scientists can offer no other explanation for the relatively high abundance of phosphine in the Venus atmosphere, and this is the finding of an eminent MIT molecular astrophysicist, Clara Sousa-Silva. Because of more extreme conditions, high heat and low water content, Mars has usually been the scientists’ favorite for life other than on earth in our solar system.

Now remember, ‘life’ does not always mean creatures like those who run for the American presidency (a little humor). Venus, being close to the sun and having a dense atmosphere, thus exhibits a powerful greenhouse effect with a very high surface temperature. We have sent robotic probes that verify Mars as a place less hospitable than even Florida is now (due to COVID-19!). The best thing to do, though easier said than done, would be to send robotic missions to Venus, and ideally bringing Venus samples back to earth. Phosphine has been considered (it can be identified at a distance by its chemical spectrum) as a biosignature on distant planets, but not before within our own solar system.

Phosphine itself is not a fun chemical. It is a toxic (to critters, including us), malodorous gas, extremely poisonous, and even used in chemical weapons. It is not commonly found in nature, but here on earth can be laboratory synthesized. It has been detected in nature, detected in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, planetary giants of high gravity. Our scientists have yet to figure out how it comes to be found on Venus.

Let me digress a moment to make an important point. No alien life has been found to this day on Earth. Darn, I was really counting on Bigfoot being a visitor from somewhere out there.

More information on this topic can be found in two excellent articles in the September 15 and September 16 Washington Post.

Well, you might say, that I am not that much interested in Venus. Here is an alternative. NASA recently announced that it’s looking for companies to mine the surface of the moon! They want them to collect rocks and dirt from the lunar surface, and sell them to NASA. The underlying reason is to help astronauts "live off the land." This plan is part of NASA’s Artemis Project, a plan to set up a permanent presence on and around the moon, on the way to exploration of Mars (!). In 1967 the Outer Space Treaty says that no country may lay sovereign claim to the moon or other celestial bodies, and reassurances have been made that this effort would be in compliance with that treaty.

NASA sees this effort as an important way to assure cooperation and fairness as interest grows in extracting resources from outer space, much as the agreements now in place to prevent undue exploitation of ocean resources. NASA wants to go back to the moon by 2024, particularly to the moon’s south pole where there is ice in shadowed craters. The water is potentially useful not just in its usual obvious ways, but as a source of hydrogen and oxygen, for rocket propulsion. (It always comes back to chemistry!). This can be a prototype for future extraction of other materials, says NASA, from on and below the lunar surface, such as precious metals. I remember a lot of cowboy gold rush movies as I was growing up; the next generation may see Moon Rush movies (streaming on our devices, of course). A number of existing companies have shown interest in this potential project.

Our nearest neighbor in outer space is of course our Moon. NASA is planning an astronaut trip to the Moon is 2024. It’s only 239,000 miles, after all. We haven’t sent anyone there since 1972. And it will include the first woman (yet unnamed) to travel to the Moon. The mission will utilize the Unified Geologic Map of the Moon, what is called the "definitive blueprint of the moon’s surface geology." The map is a revolutionary tool that took more than 50 years to make, and it utilized the finding from the Apollo moon missions of the 1960s and 1970s. The map illustrates the moon’s layers, differentiating lava plains and ancient highlands, in colors. This map will be a great help, says United States Geological Survey research geologist James Skinner, in showing in detail the physical features of the Moon’s surface, and thus helping astronauts in their explorations.

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I have now written over sixty articles of Real Science, and I occasionally like to come back to topics on which I have written earlier that have new developments. The Flint water crisis was a terrible event in which lead entered the drinking water system. The issue has not come yet to rest. There are still legal battles taking place and arguments over federal regulation. The EPA has still not come forward with the level of update to the Lead and Copper Rule, that regulates the amount of these chemicals allowed in drinking water. No amount of lead or copper is safe in drinking water!

Many communities have had levels of lead in their water above the safe level, but Flint came to attention because of the extremely high level of lead. Between January 2015 and March 2018, 5.5 million people were using that water. No amount of lead is safe, and zero percent lead should be the goal of the water for human consumption. Much of the problem, you may recall, had to do with the lead lining in old water pipes. Lead lined service lines should be eliminated! The cost is high, but in my opinion it is necessary to do this to protect health, with special concern for the health of children.

Read other articles by Michael Rosenthal