'Life On Another Planet Now Distinctly Possible?'

Simple life is probably as common as dirt in the Universe; we're finding new examples all the time of life can exist in environments that fifty years ago would be to be flat out impossible. Life is much more hardy and adaptable, especially microbes and such, than we ever imagined. But more complex, multi-cellular forms will probably be less common, "intelligent life" rarer still, and technological civilizations the rarest of all. A good book on the subject is
"Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe" by Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee.

Of course, as is often the case, the Universe will probably end up surprising the hell out of all of us.

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