So much so, that Venus' climate is probably more hostile than any other planet in our solar system. The only ones more disappointed than scientists were Bangladesh tigers -- they were convinced that after death they went up to the jungles of Venus.

Here's an idea of what it's like on Venus: the temperature is around 900 degrees Fahrenheit -- that's great vacation weather, if you happen to be a tube worm with poor circulation. The atmosphere is about 97 percent carbon dioxide, as compared to earth's atmosphere of about 90 percent nitrogen and oxygen.

Bright sunny days on Venus are nonexistent; every day is like a heavy overcast. And if the sun did come out, you could never go to the beach on Venus because there are no oceans. Venus is so dry that the relative humidity rarely reaches one percent; forget about "raindrops fallin' on your head." But then, on Venus, the last thing you'd want is rain. Rain on "earth's twin" consists of sulfuric acid. Such a rain would dissolve sulfur, mercury, lead, tin, and most rocks. To go out in weather like that your Totes hat would need a lining made of tempered steel, and Tarzan would have to wear a lot more than "Fruit of the Loom."

If you still think conditions on Venus are similar to those of earth, I strongly suggest you move to different neighborhood -- your current one has completely deteriorated.

Venus has a surface pressure of about 90 times that of earth, which is the equivalent of going about a half mile down into the ocean. The sun rises in the west and sets in the east.

One day on Venus takes approximately eight earth months; a couple living on Venus could have a baby almost every "day."

AGAIN, CONTRADICTIONS

Of all the great differences between earth and Venus, one in particular poses a very strong and obvious question: if earth and Venus formed of the same gas clouds, how can 70 percent of earth's surface be covered with water yet the only trace of water on Venus is a relative humidity of about one percent? What happened to all the water on Venus? Or, where did all the water on earth come from?

AND THEN, THE THEORIES

One theory, and perhaps even the only one, about where all the water on Venus went is this: millions of years ago, the greenhouse effect of Venus' atmosphere caused its temperatures to soar above 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. This caused water to break up into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen escaped into space and the oxygen mixed with molten rock forming the Venusian crust.

Then why is there a large volume of water on earth?