Yes, there is life in space.

It was an article on exobiology I must have missed.

Time magazine published it back in February. It was by astronomer Jeffrey Kluger and it was called "Yes, There Is Life in Space--Deal with It."

Now with a title like that, how could I resist?

The link is at the bottom because I'm still writing these posts on my phone. Long story. Contact me if you really want to know.

The upshot of it is that life on other planets is no longer the majority position of exobiology, but of space science as a whole. As Kluger puts it:

"...life is out there, indeed it is everywhere, simply because mathematically and chemically it *has* to be."

The elements for life are everywhere in the cosmos and that's just for "life as we know it" as the saying goes. Water, hydrocarbons, you can't go that far without tripping over all of it. Kluger then segues into the math of the matter, stuff we've read or heard many times but it's no less valid. Our Sun is just one of many billions in the known universe and it's beginning to look like a star without planets is an anomaly rather than the norm. It would be specious reasoning to claim ours is the only planet where the process of life could happen.

He's right I'd say. Not that anyone would ask me. There must be other life in the universe besides what's on Earth. It might even be here in our own solar system on the small scale. None of this means, however, that said exolife has ever visited here. Not that Kluger argues that it has in the article by any means.

There is also no reason to believe this exolife would look anything like us. The bipedal, humanoid form is our own projection. I deliberately chose the Space Invaders image above for a reason. It's one of the first depictions of alien life that came to my mind that looks nothing like us. So even though it's an ancient video game, it therefore holds at least a hint of realism.

So what exactly would this exolife look like? I have no idea, but if you'll indulge me for a moment, I'd like to speculate. If it's life that has evolved enough to build a civilization, then it must have something resembling eyes. The advanced predators on our world have eyes that face front, a few with stereo vision. I know, I know, I'm going from a human perspective but what else am I going to do? 

It's also going to have something like hands, an appendage of one form or another that will allow it to manipulate its environment. Rather necesssry don't you think? 

After that, I really wouldn't hazard a guess. I sure would like to know for certain one day.

Not exactly holding out hope for it, though.

http://time.com/4234106/life-in-space/

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Follow me on Twitter: @Jntweets