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Ah, Venus! Goddess planet shrouded in mystery. About the
only thing that astronomers knew about Venus in the '30s was that it
was smaller than Earth, had a a bit more carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere, and a heck of a lot of clouds. In pure run-with-it
logic, the clouds meant lot of water and the CO² meant an atmosphere
like prehistoric Earth. Conclusion: Carboniferous swamps
over the whole planet inhabited by dinosaurs. Also
Munchkin
villages. A pity that we now know that the planet has a surface
temperature of 900° C, pressure that would flatten Don King's
hair, and a constant rain of sulphuric acid. Still, rates are
reasonable.
Why
is it that whenever anyone depicts a water planet they always show the
inhabitants swimming about everywhere? You don't see people in
Venice sloshing about in the Grand Canal. Try that and you'll
end up with some kind of rash. Anyway, our hero is meeting the
Venusians, who have made their home under an old '80s satellite dish.
They seem to be some sort of fish people with a sense of humour.
We capture them in this picture at the moment of the Man from Venus
going "Psych!"
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