I fear that "much close to 100%. There just has to be" (as much as I too would like to share in this sentiment) may be an anthropomorphic projection and wishful

I fear that "much close to 100%. There just has to be" (as much as I too would like to share in this sentiment) may be an anthropomorphic projection and wishful thinking. Anthropomorphic because we are living creatures and assume that there must be other living creatures in the region of the universe we can see, even if just biochemically. But, one thing we are able to estimate is the number of stars in the observable universe -- that collection of stars in causal contact with us. It is far from infinite. In fact, not that much larger than the number of atoms in a macroscopic chunk of matter. The number of possible games of chess is incomparably vaster. If by "universe" we mean everything out beyond our causal horizon in an infinite universe, then I would guess that yes, there is other life. Actually, there are other copies of you too, because everything that can happen does happen in an infinite universe. The hinge of my point is that the observable universe is not infinite. This is not to say, by the way, that we should not continue looking for traces of life or to be open to these.