So, they come across these ‘exoplanets’ that are in some supposed (what kind of a?) zone that COULD be possible for water and then, of course, life. PLEASE, let me know if anyone has ever demonstrated, conclusively, the spontaneous development of a single amino acid, anywhere.
You see, a lot hangs on this. These ‘scientists’ are desperate to show that we are NOT unique because that helps the anti-theists.
When I was in medical school, our biochem prof said that the chances of life developing in the universe were iffy at best & at that time the estimated age was 17-22 billion years. It is now 13.7 billion + or - .7 billion. That makes the chances far less.
Controlled laboratory experiments have never, to my knowledge, ever been able to induce recombination of all known amino acids into even proteins, let alone RNA & DNA. The operative words here are ‘to my knowledge’.
I would like to know if anyone has contrary evidence.
Amino acids are readily produced in laboratories simulating early conditions on Earth. DNA or RNA, however, no. That requires a lot of evolution. The simple development of photosynthesis was a milestone in evolution. So was sex. However that does not preclude that intelligent life such as our own is not divinely inspired. There is no methodology in the theory of evolution that allows creatures to exceed only what is needed for basic survival.
Murchison contains common amino acids such as glycine, alanine and glutamic acid as well as unusual ones like isovaline and pseudoleucine. A complex mixture of alkanes was isolated as well, similar to that found in the Miller–Urey experiment. Serine and threonine, usually considered to be earthly contaminants, were conspicuously absent in the samples. A specific family of amino acids called diamino acids was identified in the Murchison meteorite as well
I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but between this, the clouds of stuff like ethanol floating through space and the ‘Drake Equation’, I would say the chances are pretty good for life to exist elsewhere in the galaxy. (Other life in the solar system is a given to me as chunks of this globe have been scattered via asteroid and comet strikes throughout the system for 4.5 billion years and extremophiles can withstand the vacuum of space and places like Europa and Enceladus are ripe for colonization )