Since we're simply voicing opinions, I have to jump in and say I believe life is pretty common in our universe. It has taken hold in almost every possible niche on our planet, however hellish the environment, from hot volcanic vents deep under water to Antarctic lakes that are frozen over. It multiplied in very strange, inhospitable conditions early in Earth's history. In fact, some scientists theorize that life arose at least twice on Earth: a debate about Precambrian organisms poses the question, "Ancestors or Aliens?" because these lifeforms are do different from later types. Some were plante-like animals. One belief is that all these Ediacarans died off about 542 million years ago without leaving descendants. Others believe some of the forms did survive, notably one that was like a modern mollusks. Even if a few types survived, almost all were killed off either by some change in sea chemistry (like the addition of more oxygen, possibly) or were eaten by the new type of animal, predator worms that bored into them. My point is that however many times life arose, it fit an incredible variety of environments. Reasoning by analogy, it seems to me that our Earth -- which has nothing very unusual about it in terms of available chemistry (as far as we can tell) -- is probably typical of a great many planets. If life can develop here, and conditions here are not unusual, it's not a stretch to assume it can develop in a huge number of other placed. That's not to say all such planets necessarily have intelligent life, but wherever life reproduced, evolution seems inevitable. One survival trait that's probably built into evolution is intelligence. On Earth, each succeeding era has seen a general increase in intelligence. Why wouldn't that tendency be true elsewhere? I think it would. Given time, I'd imagine a great many civilizations would thrive in various galaxies including our own. Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android