Is there really phosphine on Venus?
Further study casts doubts on a head-turning recent discovery
EXTRAORDINARY CLAIMS require extraordinary evidence. So goes the dictum, usually credited to Carl Sagan, a celebrated astronomer, on the need for caution when interpreting radical new ideas in science. And there are few claims more extraordinary than that of the discovery of life beyond Earth.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Questions of life”
From the November 14th 2020 edition
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