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Cover Image: An artistic, conceptual view of Venus' atmosphere and clouds, inspired by spacecraft multicolor images and recent findings that suggest some nucleic and amino acids are stable in 98% concentrated sulfuric acid (as within Venus' middle clouds). The colored striations indicate the uneven distribution of ultraviolet absorbers in the cloud layer, including sulfur dioxide and perhaps one or more unknown, whether abiotic or perhaps even organic. Venus is generally discounted as a terrestrial-style habitat (for microbes) due to its current high surface temperature (750 K), ultradry atmosphere, and clouds containing high concentrations of sulfuric acid. However, there is a lot about the venusian cloud layers (48 to 65 km and higher) that we do not understand yet, including the abundances of minor and trace gas constituents and potential chemical disequilibria. Sulfuric acid droplets with some unknown impurities have been proposed to potentially harbor microorganisms that may help explain the absorption of sunlight. However, sulfuric acid is destructive for most of the biochemicals related to terrestrial microbial biology. Recent research shows that many building blocks of life (as observed on Earth) are actually stable in 98% concentrated sulfuric acid—amino acids (M. Seager et al., 2024 in this issue) shown on the Venus limb with some possible nucleic acids (Seager et al. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2220007120) shown over the cloud cover, supporting the plausibility of life in the venusian global cloud cover. The chemical species shown on the Venus limb and over the entire planet's upper atmosphere represent amino acids (M. Seager et al., 2024 in this issue) and nucleic acids (Seager et al. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2220007120) that have been found to be stable within concentrated sulfuric acid, supporting the plausibility of biosignatures (or microbial life) in sulfuric acid clouds. Further research on this hypothesis will advance the possibilities both in laboratory studies and via upcoming in situ measurements.Credit: Original artwork by Shufan Sun, with concept guided by Sanjay Limaye. Thanks to Professor Sara Seager for input on this caption