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You wouldn’t want to be on Venus right now. Or any day really. The atmospheric pressure and temperature are so high that you would be flattened and cooked immediately. It is much more bearable in the clouds of the planet‚ with a tropical climate and Earth-normal temperatures – as long as you don’t mind the sulfuric acid. Clearly‚ it’s an inhospitable place for us anywhere‚ but would some life be able to survive? New evidence suggests that at least its basic components are unaffected.The work conducted by Professor Sara Seager‚ her son‚ and a team looked at amino acids – the building blocks of proteins‚ crucial for life. The team wanted to know how an extremely acidic environment affects these molecules. They found that 11 out of 20 amino acids tested were unmodified‚ and another eight were modified only in their side chains after four weeks at extremely high concentrations of sulfuric acid.This latest work follows a previous study by Seager about the stability of nucleic acid bases in sulfuric acid. These bases are the components that make up DNA and RNA. They too can survive unscathed in the extreme environment of the clouds of Venus.“Concentrated sulfuric acid's chemical properties differ significantly from that of water‚ so much so that our results may appear unexpected. Our findings help to challenge the prevailing misconception in the astrobiology and biology communities that organic chemicals are uniformly unstable in concentrated sulfuric acid‚” the researchers wrote in their latest paper.        IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.Chemical stability is not equivalent to life‚ but it certainly moves the dial away from impossible. Habitability in the clouds of Venus has been a hot topic since the detection of phosphine in them. The molecule is produced by life forms on Earth‚ but it is not clear what creates it there.Ultimately‚ to understand what goes on‚ or might go on‚ in the clouds of Venus‚ we need to go there. Multiple missions are being planned for the second rock from the Sun. The first is a private one next year‚ and both NASA and the European Space Agency have missions to study the planet next decade.  “Venus‚ our neighboring planet‚ lies conveniently close‚ which allows us to directly probe its cloud particles through space missions‚” the authors write in the paper. “Ultimately‚ a sample return from the Venusian atmosphere may be necessary to robustly ascertain the presence of life‚ if indeed life exists there.”The study has been accepted for publication in the journal Astrobiology‚ and is available on the ArXiv.[H/T: Phys.org]

MRC’s Contributing Writer Stephanie Hamill was a guest on Friday’s Fox News at Night with host Trace Gallagher to discuss how the media is covering the Iowa caucuses and the 2024 election.  During the segment Hamill brought up former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s recent comments about ‘chaos’ following former President Donald Trump after reacting to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul's 'never Nikki' campaign.  But does chaos actually follow Trump or is the media manufacturing it?  We’ll let you decide. Check out the MRC’s latest analysis which shows the incredible amount of Trump bashing going on during the evening broadcasts on ABC‚ CBS‚ and NBC as the 2024 election heats up. Gallagher: In the meantime I want to put this up because this is Senator Rand Paul saying that he is a never Nikki voter. Watch.  Sen. Rand Paul Video: I don't think any informed or knowledgeable libertarian or conservative should support Nikki Haley. I've seen her attitude towards our interventions overseas. I've seen her involvement in the military industrial complex.  Gallagher: Stephanie Hamill‚ you don't generate backlash and hate unless you have touched a nerve and it appears Nikki Haley has touched a few nerves along the way.  Hamill: Yeah‚ I wasn't expecting to see a non-endorsement coming from senator Rand Paul. I mean‚ he didn't endorse any candidates right? He said he liked a little bit of what all the candidates are saying but he wanted to be clear he is not a fan of Haley. With that he said he has concerns about‚ quote‚ "forever wars" and how she supports that. Also concerns about her ideas and desires to have people name themselves before they use social media‚ which he thought was an invasion of privacy.  What I thought was interesting too is you'll often hear a lot of people supporting Nikki Haley saying they want to see decency in the White House and Haley also says she believes chaos follows trump everywhere.  The Media Research Center released a study this week....   Trace: Very quickly.  Hamill: It showed 91% of the news coverage on Trump from the mainstream media networks was negative.  Trace: Well we know that.  Hamill: I don't know if the 'chaos' is a Trump issue or a media issue‚ I think it will happen to other republicans as well.  Trump apparently is in the crosshairs of the mainstream media again‚ as he received 91% negative coverage from evening newscasts from January 1 through December 31‚ 2023‚ including weekends. It would be safe to assume if Trump wasn’t in the lead‚ the coverage would still be negative toward any other top conservative candidate based on mainstream media coverage history.  According to MRC's analysis Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received 73% negative coverage‚ while Haley fared better with only 50% negative.  MRC analysts looked at all coverage of the Republican candidates on the ABC‚ CBS and NBC evening newscasts from January 1 through December 31‚ 2023‚ including weekends. Among the key findings: â–  In 2023‚ Trump received 1‚192 minutes of evening news airtime‚ or 79% of all GOP candidate coverage. Top challengers Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley were far behind‚ with 166 and 35 minutes of airtime last year‚ respectively. â–  The networks trashed Trump with ferociously hostile coverage: 91% negative‚ vs. just 9% positive (scroll to read methodology). DeSantis and Haley fared better‚ but neither received more good press than bad. Coverage of DeSantis was 73% negative vs. 27% positive; Haley’s press was split down the middle: 50% negative and 50% positive. â–  Campaign trail discussion of substantive issues such as the economy‚ immigration and abortion were buried under an avalanche of media attention to Trump’s legal cases. The evening newscasts devoted 992 minutes to Trump’s various legal problems in 2023‚ eight times more than was spent on all policy issues combined (121 minutes). Unfortunately the viewers of these networks are being deprived of substantive information regarding all of the presidential candidates and the policies discussion that should be had as the American people begin to head to the polls. 

MSNBC’s host of The 11th Hour‚ Stephanie Ruhle‚ knows that the economy is the thing most likely to doom President Joe Biden’s re-election efforts so she spent Friday’s show spinning that the worse than expected inflation report was actually “good-ish.” As the parties throw around their respective talking points‚ Ruhle asked CNBC’s Steve Liesman what the truth is‚ "A lot of people like to say 'Donald Trump was great for the economy‚ things went really well for me when he was the president.' So‚ Steve‚ I turn to you. You know‚ we got another inflation report this week. It was good-ish. Republicans love to say the economy’s terrible. Democrats say that the economy is so strong. Where are we really headed?"     Liesman agreed with Ruhle‚ "We’re making progress‚ the inflation numbers have been coming down‚ in fact‚ they may even hit the Fed’s target come next month or this month depending on how concerned they are about a resurgence of inflation." With the report’s findings‚ those cuts may not happen‚ but either way the economic reporter continued‚ wondering why everyone is so fixated on the economy‚ "but I think what is interesting is what do people value? I have no doubt in my mind that another Donald Trump election might be the last free election that we will vote in‚ but to the extent that people understand that‚ that is not something that it appears when you do the polling that they value above issues of the economy." As Lisman continued trying to understand why people care about the economy or the border over his end-of-democracy freakout‚ Ruhle interrupted‚ “But‚ can I push back for one second? That listen: democracy is an abstract‚ the economy is real. What economy was so much better in the Trump era?” Before anyone could answer “the one with lower inflation‚” Ruhle rolled on‚ “Earlier this week‚ Donald Trump went on television with Lou Dobbs and said he hopes the stock market crashes within the next year. If the stock market crashes‚ you know better than anybody here: that's terrible for every person with a 401K. Every firefighter‚ every teacher every nurse and their retirement account.” Trump’s comments aside‚ Ruhle’s opinion on the stock market as it relates to the overall health of the economy and who benefits from it seems to change depending on who the president is. Here is a transcript for the January 12 show: MSNBC The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle 1/12/2024 11:24 PM ET STEPHANIE RUHLE:  A lot of people like to say” Donald Trump was great for the economy‚ things went really well for me when he was the president.” So‚ Steve‚ I turn to you. You know‚ we got another inflation report this week. It was good-ish— STEVE LIESMAN: Yeah. RUHLE: Republicans love to say the economy’s terrible. Democrats say that the economy is so strong. Where are we really headed?  LIESMAN: We’re making progress‚ the inflation numbers have been coming down‚ in fact‚ they may even hit the Fed’s target come next month or this month.  RUHLE: Which means the Fed will cut rates. LIESMAN: Two percent-- it clears the way for the Federal Reserve to cut rates— RUHLE: That would be a huge win. LIESMAN: -- depending on how concerned they are about a resurgence of inflation‚ but I think what is interesting is what do people value? I have no doubt in my mind that another Donald Trump election might be the last free election that we will vote in‚ but to the extent that people understand that‚ that is not something that it appears when you do the polling that they value above issues of the economy.  And if you say that is what they deserve‚ well‚ if that is what they want to vote for‚ because it is the transcendence of either the economics‚ transcendence of the border issues‚ I'm trying to understand this stuff without judging it‚ I guess I do judge it a bit‚ but trying to get inside the head— RUHLE: But‚ can I push back for one second? LIESMAN: Yeah‚ please. RUHLE: Even that argument— LIESMAN: Right. RUHLE: That listen: democracy is an abstract‚ the economy is real. What economy was so much better in the Trump era? Earlier this week‚ Donald Trump went on television with Lou Dobbs and said he hopes the stock market crashes within the next year. If the stock market crashes‚ you know better than anybody here: that's terrible for every person with a 401K. Every firefighter‚ every teacher— LIESMAN: Yeah. RUHLE: --every nurse and their retirement account. 

Smite 2 is certainly exciting for anyone who’s enjoyed the long-running MOBA‚ but unfortunately there’s a bit of bad news for players who have invested heavily into the first game. As it announces its sequel to take on the titans of League of Legends and Dota 2‚ developer Titan Forge confirms that your Smite skins from the original won’t be making it over - although the team does have a way to compensate you for them. Continue reading Smite 2 won’t bring old skins over because it would take “246 years” MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best MOBAs‚ Best multiplayer games‚ Upcoming PC games