The Nation - News from Nov. 21, 1986
The idea that Venus has lightning produced by volcanoes is based on faulty reasoning and from all indications the planet is volcanically dead, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientist said. Harry Taylor Jr., a senior scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and Paul Cloutier of Rice University in Houston, writing in the weekly journal Science, said the idea evolved from probes by the U.S. Pioneer Venus spacecraft in 1978 that detected low-frequency radio emissions resembling those generated by lightning storms.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
