As others have noted, geothermal vents could provide a place for life to get started, as it is thought to have occurred here. One thing that I think is importa

As others have noted, geothermal vents could provide a place for life to get started, as it is thought to have occurred here. One thing that I think is important to consider is that what is really needed is an energy gradient which can be leveraged to do the work of creating all the different kinds of compounds one would need to produce something we'd call "alive". I think the other article from quanta about "assembly theory"[1] is a good one to consider in this context. What would be the "Assembly Contingent" of a world like Europa or these other moons? My guess would be that there might be enough material and energy potential to allow pathways to bacteria analogues (not that these def exist, but they're possible), but not nearly enough to support the variation and specialization required to reach multi-cellular life. [1] https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-new-theory-for-the-assembly-of-life-in-the-universe-20230504/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-new-theory-for-the-assembly...