[AnalogReigns]

If you take into account all the known various factors that make life possible on earth, it can be shown statistically in ALL the universe there is almost no chance of another planet capable of supporting life... see The Improbable Design of Our Earth and Solar System.

I love Star Trek too, but facts are facts--and other than God and the spiritual world--we likely are alone in the universe.

[sendtoscott]

Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe

"Do you feel lucky? Well do ya?" asked Dirty Harry. Paleontologist Peter Ward and astronomer Donald Brownlee think all of us should feel lucky. Their rare Earth hypothesis predicts that while simple, microbial life will be very widespread in the universe, complex animal or plant life will be extremely rare. Ward and Brownlee admit that "It is very difficult to do statistics with an N of 1. But in our defense, we have staked out a position rarely articulated but increasingly accepted by many astrobiologists."