If We're Looking For Intelligence In The

So How Can We Test The Idea That The Transition From Nonlife To Life Is Simple Enough To Happen Repeatedly? The Most Obvious And Straightforward Way Is To Search For A Second Form Of Life On Earth. No Planet Is More Earth-like Than Earth Itself, So If The Path To Life Is Easy, Then Life Should Have Started Up Many Times Over Right Here.

Cancer Is Like Another Form Of Life. It's Closely Related To Healthy Life. A Healthy Body Is One Form Of Life. Cancer Is In A Way Nature's Experiment With Life.

In Time, [a Martian] Colony Would Grow To The Point Of Being Self- Sustaining. When This Stage Was Reached, Humanity Would Have A Precious Insurance Policy Against Catastrophe At Home. During The Next Millennium There Is A Significant Chance That Civilization On Earth Will Be Destroyed By An Asteroid, A Killer Plague Or A Global War. A Martian Colony Could Keep The Flame Of Civilization And Culture Alive Until Earth Could Be Reverse-colonized From Mars.

I Always Look On The Black Side Of Life. That Way, You Won't Be Disappointed And I'm Cheerful If It Doesn't Work Out. I'm A Cheerful Pessimist.

The Vast Majority Of Terrestrial Species Are In Fact Microbes, And Scientists Have Only Begun Scratching The Surface Of The Microbial Realm. It Is Entirely Possible That Examples Of Life As We Don't Know It Have So Far Been Overlooked.