Something is moving under the surface of Venus
Mysterious features on the surface of Venus might suggest that there is activity under its surface, scientists have suggested.
Almost circular features on the surface might suggest that it has active tectonics, according to new research. Though the findings are new, the data used to discover them are actually more than 30 years old, originally found by Nasa 's Magellan mission.
The behaviour is similar to the tectonic plates found on Earth, which are huge sections of crust that move on top of a viscous interior and are constantly changing the surface. Venus doesn't have tectonic plates, but researchers suggest that it is nonetheless being changed by molten material that is beneath the surface.
To understand the deformations in the surface, researchers looked at coronae that are found on Venus. They can be anywhere from dozens to hundreds of miles across, there are hundreds of them on the planet, and they are thought to be formed when material rises from the planet's mantle and pushes against the crust above.
The findings not only shed light on the nearby planet but might also tell us about the history of Earth.
'Coronae are not found on Earth today; however, they may have existed when our planet was young and before plate tectonics had been established,' said the study's lead author, Gael Cascioli, assistant research scientist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. 'By combining gravity and topography data, this research has provided a new and important insight into the possible subsurface processes currently shaping the surface of Venus.'
The data was gathered by the Magellan mission, which remains the best data on the gravity and topography of Venus despite having orbited the planet in the 1990s. That data includes details on the coronae, but at the time it was taken the cause of them remained mysterious.
Researchers have proposed a number of explanations for them. But the new research involved creating detailed models that looked at what would happen if the coronae were formed by plumes from underneath – and then compared those simulations with the real data from the planet.
They appeared to match up. Researchers found that of the 75 coronae in the study, 52 of them appeared to have floating mantle material underneath that is probably affecting the surface.
Scientists hope that the Magellan data could soon be joined by Nasa's VERITAS mission, which will launch no earlier than 2031 and will provide new detail on the planet's gravity and other details. That could not only help understand those coronae but its geology more generally.
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But di former truck mechanic tok say e don "completely screw up" early on wen two cobra bites wey happun in quick succession leave am in coma. "I no wan die. I no wan lose one finger. I no wan miss work," e tell BBC. Oga Friede motivation na to develop beta therapies for di rest of di world, explaining: "E just become lifestyle and I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing as hard as I fit push - for di pipo wey dey 8,000 miles away from me wey don die from snakebite". 'I go love to get my hands on some of your blood' Currently dem dey make anti-venom by injecting small doses of snake venom into animals, such as horses. Dia immune system dey fight di venom by producing antibodies and dem go harvest am to use as therapy. But venom and anti-venom gatz dey closely matched becos di toxins for venomous bite no be di same from one species to anoda. Dem even get wide variety within di same species – anti-venom wey dem make from snakes from India dey less effective against di same species for Sri Lanka. One team of researchers begin dey search for one type of immune defence wey dem dey call broadly neutralising antibodies. Instead of targeting di part of toxin wey make am unique, dem dey target di part wey make am common to entire classes of toxin. Dat na wen Dr Jacob Glanville, chief executive of biotech company Centivax, come across Tim Friede. "Immediately I look say 'if anybody in di world don develop dis broadly neutralising antibodies, e go be am' and so I reach out," e tok. "Di first call, I be like 'dis fit dey awkward, but I go love get my hands on some of your blood'." Oga Friede agree and di work dey ethically approved becos di study go only take blood, rather dan give am more venom. Di research focus on elapids – one of di two families of venomous snakes – such as coral snakes, mambas, cobras, taipans and kraits. Elapids primarily use neurotoxins in dia venom, wey dey paralyse dia victim and e dey fatal wen dem stop di muscles e need to breathe. Researchers don pick 19 elapids identify by di World Health Organization as being among di deadliest snakes on di planet. Dem don begin to source for Oga Friede blood for protective defences. Dia work, dey detailed in di journal Cell, identify two broadly neutralising antibodies wey fit target two classes of neurotoxin. For experiments on mice, di cocktail mean say di animals bin survive deadly doses from 13 of di 19 species of venomous snake. Dem bin get partial protection against di remaining six. Dis na "unparalleled" breadth of protection, according to Dr Glanville, wey say e "likely cover a whole bunch of elapids for wey no get current anti-venom". Di team dey try to refine di antibodies further and see if adding fourth component fit lead to total protection against elapid snake venom. Di oda class of snake – di vipers – dey rely more on haemotoxins, wey dey attack di blood, rather dan neurotoxins. In total around one dozen broad classes of toxin in snake venom, wey also include cytotoxins dey directly kill cells. "I think in di next 10 or 15 years we go get somtin effective against each one of dis toxin classes," Prof Peter Kwong, one of di researchers for Columbia University, tok. And di hunt continue inside Oga Friede blood samples. "Tim antibodies dey really quite extraordinary - e bin teach im immune system to get dis veri, veri broad recognition," Prof Kwong tok. Di ultimate hope na to get either single anti-venom wey fit do evritin, or one injection for elapids and one for vipers. Prof Nick Casewell, na di head of di centre for snakebite research and interventions for di Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine - e tok say di breadth of protection report bin dey unusual and provide "strong piece of evidence" wey get feasible approach. "No doubt say dis work move di field forward in exciting direction." But e caution say "plenti work still dey to do" and di anti-venom still go need extensive testing bifor dem fit use am in pipo. But for Oga Friede, reaching dis stage "make me feel good". "I dey do somtin good for humanity and e bin dey veri important to me. I dey proud of am. E dey pretty cool."
