William Reville: Is there life beyond Earth?

Two of the largest questions confronting science are: (a) how did life begin on Earth, and (b) does life exist elsewhere in the universe? Although we think we know the answer to the first question in principle – life spontaneously arose through the self-organisation of simple chemical building blocks – we remain a long way from a detailed understanding of the process. But, if our understanding of the origin of life on Earth is correct, then it seems inevitable that the vast universe beyond Earth also teems with life. Current research in this area was summarised by Jeffrey Kluger in Time in February.
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