The Venusian Chronicles
Luis A. Anchordoqui, Carlos A. Garc\'ia Canal, Sergio J. Sciutto

TL;DR
This paper investigates whether cosmic radiation would sterilize potential life in Venus's cloud biosphere, finding that radiation levels are comparable to Earth's and unlikely to be harmful to microorganisms.
Contribution
It applies AIRES simulations to assess cosmic ray effects on Venus's cloud biosphere, providing new insights into habitability under high-radiation conditions.
Findings
Cosmic radiation levels in Venus's clouds are similar to Earth's surface.
Radiation effects are unlikely to be hazardous to potential microorganisms.
Venus's lack of magnetic field does not significantly increase radiation hazards.
Abstract
Venus' atmosphere -- specifically its clouds buoyed up 40 to 60 km above the surface -- has long been suspected to encompass a biosphere where Earth-like living organisms could grow and flourish. This idea has been recently rekindled by the observation (signal-to-noise ratio of about 15) of a phosphine (PH) absorption-line profile against the thermal background from deeper, hotter layers of the atmosphere. There is a chance that this observation could be a sign of life, because the PH gas observed on Earth originates mostly in decaying organic material. Furthermore, it has been shown that there is no other natural process on Venus that could otherwise produce the observed PH absorption line. On the other hand, cosmic rays and the particle cascades they produce in the Earth's atmosphere are hazardous to living organisms, because the ionizing radiation produced in air…
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Taxonomy
TopicsColonialism, slavery, and trade
