are we alone in the universe?

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by Joshua May

I think that it is almost statistically impossible for Earth to be the only planet that has life on it. Now there may not be other life forms in our galaxy, but there are sure to be some somewhere at some other infinitesimal part of the universe. On the second slide from this powerpoint presentation given by my astronomy professor for next semester really shows how large the universe is when compared to the Earth. Really, the universe is beyond HUGE, and contains billions and billions (if not more) stars, and with many of those stars come planets, however the vast amount of these cannot be seen from Earth.

this is what I meant when I said the astronomers have not been talking to the bilogists. When Darwin first proposed that single cell organisms could easly assemble themselves in primortal soup I dont think we even knew about atoms and molecules yet (I will have to double check this). To Dawin a single cell organism was simple, a handfull of elements mixed together.

but we know know that a one cell organism is incredibly complex - and we can put a number on that complexity (how many atoms or molecules there are, and how many possible combinations)

so while the universe is very large (1E66 atoms in the universe), the most simple life forms are way more complex (1E350 possible combinations to get one cell correct)