[Pres Raygun]

As I stated earlier; there is at least one data point for life in the Galaxy/Universe. Us! Even if all life is confined to these sparse regions of the galaxy, there could be huge numbers of life producing planets. And that is just in our galaxy alone.

They fall out side the life zone and/or are not the correct size to sustain an atmosphere. We are just beginning to explore our own neighborhood.

This is the point of Rare Earth. The idea behind the Drake equation properly applied, means that the habitable zones of galaxies, combined with the number of stable stars, with gas giant in circular orbits, combined with the number of solar systems with rocky planets with the right atmosphere and the correct distance from their star, plus dozens of other factors necessary for advanced life forms, whittles away at the billions and billions of stars, until it becomes improbable that there are other inhabitable planets let alone ones with advanced life.

For the record, I do not believe there are life bearing planets out there; however, I do suspect there are.

I'm not sure I understand what you were trying to say with that statement.

[RadioAstronomer]

This is the point of Rare Earth. The idea behind the Drake equation properly applied, means that the habitable zones of galaxies, combined with the number of stable stars, with gas giant in circular orbits, combined with the number of solar systems with rocky planets with the right atmosphere and the correct distance from their star, plus dozens of other factors necessary for advanced life forms, whittles away at the billions and billions of stars, until it becomes improbable that there are other inhabitable planets let alone ones with advanced life.

There are many assumptions here. IMHO, "Rare Earth" falls in the realm of sensationalism and/or junk science.

I'm not sure I understand what you were trying to say with that statement.

Here was my statement: For the record, I do not believe there are life bearing planets out there; however, I do suspect there are.

What I was trying to say, was that I do not believe in ET. However, I suspect there may be other life out there. In other words, I will let the evidence speak for itself as we continue to learn more about this universe.