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I think of it as a solid “vote” in the direction of life, but not definitive. A great reason to further study that planet and system. And build more instruments
by ianai 3y ago
I think of it as a solid “vote” in the direction of life, but not definitive. A great reason to further study that planet and system. And build more instruments like JWST and larger!!
- PaulHoule 3y agoRight, I mean one really interesting thing we know is that a lot of life-adjacent molecules like amino acids seem to be created in space by abiotic processes. So on one hand you can get those molecules without life but on the other hand those molecules seem to be common and may have something to do with life getting its start. My hunch is that life may be pretty common in that it might get established just about anywhere it is possible for it get established, but if we assume Earth is a typical planet and it took us 4 billion years to develop intelligent life and maybe we last 10,000 years, intelligent life will be pretty rare. If there is something like algae within our vision it doesn't startle me at all. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if we found some kind of microbes and maybe simple animals in undersea vents on a moon like Europa.