WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Lightning crackles in the atmosphere of Earth’s “evil twin” Venus, while the meager remnants of suspected bygone oceans continue to be whipped off the planet and lost to space, scientists said on Wednesday.
They unveiled a series of findings from the European Space Agency’s Venus Express mission to the planet closest to Earth not just in distance, but also in size.
Venus, the second planet from the Sun, and Earth, the third, started out as virtual twins, according to scientists.
But at some point in their 4.5-billion-year histories, something went horribly wrong on Venus. The greenhouse effect ran amok, making Venus a hellish kiln — its surface hot and dry, its crushing atmosphere made up of carbon dioxide permeated by clouds of sulfuric acid that cloak the planet.
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Noelle dEstries
Noelle d'Estries, an early GO employee who took on the varied roles of Community Manager, green celebrity blogger, and more. She currently runs worstcookever.com GO entered Noelle's life in February 2007 while she was burning tires in her backyard. A phone call from the green gods at GO, burnt out the fires. Now, Noelle happily wears her GO sweatshirt while eating organic veggies and asking for paper, not plastic. A regular at the local farmer's market, Noelle shuns raking leaves and lawn maintenance, while making gourmet foods constantly. When not staring at her computer screen, she spends time with her equally attractive dog, Tessa, cat, Tim and lover Paul. She currently holds all three point records at RIT and could eat avocados and drink wine for the rest of her life.
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