As we discuss the probability of life on other planets, there seems to be a presupposition that life will automatically appear under the right environmental conditions. While scientists have created certain chemical compositions which are considered "building blocks" to life, the actual creation of life in a test tube seems as wistful an enterprise as alchemy.
Not to replace scientific theory with religious dogma, but I wonder if this presupposition is well founded. Is it possible that life on Earth is an anomaly that has not been repeated in the universe? Is it really true that (cellular) life will automatically appear wherever liquid water and carbon-based molecules are present?
Isn't it possible that we might be alone?
Not to replace scientific theory with religious dogma, but I wonder if this presupposition is well founded. Is it possible that life on Earth is an anomaly that has not been repeated in the universe? Is it really true that (cellular) life will automatically appear wherever liquid water and carbon-based molecules are present?
Isn't it possible that we might be alone?