Venus is often called "Earth's twin" because both planets are around the same size and density; they are also both rocky planets located in the inner region of the solar system. Yet, in many crucial ways, Venus couldn't be less like Earth .

Venus is thought to have once had a lot of water, though how the water escaped from its atmosphere has puzzled scientists.

So why does the desert-like hellscape of Venus now have 100,000 times less water than Earth? In a new paper published today in Nature, planetary scientists argue that water is escaping from Venus twice as fast as previously thought.