If we where able to look at the surface of Venus would we see signs of a past civilization?

Question

I believe so.

i'am talking a long long time ago!!! i said past not now. maybe millions of years ago!!!

Answer 1

Pretty much all of Venus surface has been mapped by the Magellan spacecraft. It had a resolution of 100 meters. Unless the past civilization you speak of built cities smaller than that they would have been seen.

Venus has never been livable. The planet is currently as cold as it has ever been. In the past, when there was much more watervapour in the atmosphere, it was even hotter...

600-800 million years ago the entire surface of Venus was a molten smoldering volcanoe. Your civilization would have had to evolve out of the microbes (if any) that might have survived that event. From microbes to an advanced citybuilding civilization in a timeframe 5 times faster than on earth... Likely?

Answer 2

Then you have much more imagination than I do.

First life as we know it is impossible without the presence of liquid water and Venus may have lost its water a long time ago according to this article: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/071128-venus-express.html from Space.com.

Second the surface is hot enough for molten lead and it is hard to find a building substance that will hold together never mind evolve a life form. The air pressure is tremendous and that will make it harder for life to develop as well, not to mention the occasional rains of sulfuric acid.

Finally, Venus lacks Earth’s strong magnetic field which means it lacks the radiation protection we have. Radiation may have been the source for some genetic mutations, but more often then not it is the destroyer of live and the creator of cancer.

I doubt that life ever existed on Venus never mind a life form that could develop a civilization sophisticated enough to leave artifacts. Even if the impossible were to happen the civilization would be destroyed by the numerous lava flows. Lava runs much further on Venus because the temperatures are so much higher and lava will dissolve any primitive building structure. A life form that could survive the intense heat of the lava would have a problem building a permanent civilization. Dolphins are very intelligent, yet they have never built a civilization with artifacts because it is hard to make something permanent in the sea. When you are working in a sea of lava under pressures that would crush most life forms and at temperatures that would melt lead it is almost impossible to make permanent structures never mind have a life form evolve to survive those harsh conditions.

I don’t think we are going to find any civilizations on Mars either; we have studied the surface very well and haven’t found anything yet. The “face on Mars” was an accident of lighting and viewpoint and pointed out by a NASA scientist trying to get the reporters interested; “Look at this feature it almost looks like a face.” All the reporters heard was “there is a face on Mars.” Later images of the exact same area show no face.

The best place for a possible civilization would be Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. It is theorized that under kilometers of ice there might be a liquid sea and that sea might have life forms. If all that is true then there is a very minor chance that a life form could develop enough intelligence to achieve a civilization; like termites and ants do. But, the chances of a civilization as advanced as tribal cave men is pretty slim probably for the same reason that dolphins never developed a civilization it is just too hard to build a fixed structure in the sea. Coral does it, but that takes decades and decades just to grow a few inches; way too long to create a home for a creature that is large enough to support the extra mass required for an intelligent brain. This is why we don’t consider ants and termites to be intelligent. There actions are more instincts controlled by the queen than a sign of intelligence. They have evolved a complex structure, but it was all done by instinct not by intelligence. Their brains are just too small to support the additional grey mater needed for intelligent thought.

Answer 3

No. As far as scientists can tell, Venus has been too hot for terrestrial-type life during its entire natural history. We would be much more likely to find an ancient civilization on Mars, Europa or Callisto than on Venus.

You say you believe there are signs of a past civilization there...what makes you think that? Maybe if you post your reasoning, someone here can help either verify or (more likely) debunk it.

Answer 4

You believe so? Based on what, exactly? Wishful thinking?
First of all, it's extremely unlikely that there was ever a civilization on Venus. Venus was formed at the same time as Earth, and was probably always much like it is today - hot enough to melt lead, and raining sulfuric acid. Secondly, even if there once was a civilization there, all trace of it is surely gone by now - it's hot enough to melt lead, and raining sulfuric acid!
Believing things based on zero evidence is not a sign of a healthy mind.

Answer 5

Since the surface of Venus has been imaged to some extent and there is no sign of anything, the I would say not.

Look, there are plenty of loonies babbling about faces and pyramids on Mars. Mars is pretty inhospitable but it is a pleasure garden compared to Venus. The Mars babblers are bad enough, anyone troll who goes on about a civilisation on Venus seems to have left the world of reason and rationality even further behind.

Answer 6

I'd have to say no. Venus' has an atmosphere 100 times thicker than Earth's. But Venus' clouds trap the sun's rays inside to make it the hottest planet. Its 90% Carbon Dioxide and 10% Nitrogen. And it has no oxygen in it. And we can see its surface, I'm looking at it now, its one giant Volcano planet.

Answer 7

I seriously doubt that, for the pure fact that the temperature is astronomical due to the amount of greenhouse gases within Venus' atmosphere, making the temperature over 700 degrees celsisus, as well as having components of the atosphere that include sulphuric acid. I do not believe life could ever have been supported there

Answer 8

The US has digitally mapped the entire surface of venus and found no evidence of civiliasation - of course this does not rule out the possibility of life - we know life exists on earth in the most inhospitable places (airless, extreme temperatures, hazardous gases etc)

Answer 9

what makes you believe so?

there are a bunch of hard-heads in A&S, so you might want to try harder to convince us.

you really gotta work on the 'PAST CIVILIZATION' angle, i think... WAY past! like a few billion years. Maybe blame the way Venus is now on Venusians not listening to a Al Gore the Venusian and POOF! (hey, it could happen)

Answer 10

Doubtful, indeed.
Venus is just too close to the sun to have reared any forms of life that would be recognizable to us.
Bacterial, perhaps, but that's about it...