Venus clouds may host microbial life

Two years ago, Austrian scientists discovered bacteria living and reproducing within clouds on Earth. The same could have been true on Venus. Then, as the surface became hot and dry, the clouds might have become life's only refuge.

Venus may once have been Earth-like but now surface temperatures can melt lead The Venusian clouds are high in the atmosphere, where the temperature and pressure are quite Earth-like. There is even water present, though it is in the form of concentrated sulphuric acid.

But we now know of organisms that thrive in very acidic environments on Earth.