Venus actually may be harboring life, according to a University of Texas at El Paso research team. Studying conditions above the surface, it noticed mysterious patches swirling around, which may be communities of bacteria.



These bacteria might be a genetically-enhanced version of the thermophiles which are known to survive in extreme temperatures. The article suggested the bacteria could be using ultraviolet light from the sun as an energy source, which would explain the presence of strange dark patches on ultraviolet images of the planet.