Earlier this week many of us will have received alerts and pushes from news media outlets with some pretty stunning headlines regarding the potential presence of microbial life on Venus.

Needless to say it’s an exciting time for astronomers across the world.

But what exactly is going on in the upper clouds of Venus and why is the discovery of a gas called Phosophine so important?

Prof. Lewis Dartnell, Professor of Astrobiology in the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Westminster joined Jonathan to discuss.

Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Johnathan McCrea on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App.

You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by adding the Newstalk skill and asking: 'Alexa, play Newstalk'.