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I always thought that life given the right environment would inevitably arise. The limiting factor is the presence of liquid water. The fact that it has started once means it can happen again. This is not proof just conjecture. We have no evidence.
When the tube worms and crustaceans were first seen living four miles underwater near volcanic vents subsisting on bacteria that converted what to us are poisonous chemicals to energy and food and a thriving though fragile ecosystem without the Sun as a primary source of energy I became convinced that life can arise anywhere given the existance of liquid water.
There are even bacteria living many kilometers underground in solid granite that only divide once in a hundred years. It is estimated that these bacteria have a larger biomass than what is above ground, that is, our biosphere. I could go on. We don't know all of it yet, what is under our feet and in our oceans. It may perish because of our greed (mine included).
There are basically two alternatives.
One: Life only exists on our planet
Two: Life is everywhere in the Universe given the right conditions.
Both are equally scary.
Bert
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