Quote Originally Posted by 40oz
Pondering the size of the universe is a pretty mystifying thought. It puts our existance into a different perspective.

Considering the size of the universe, I think it is definatley possible for there to be other life forms somewhere out there. Pondering existance of any life in the universe at all however, is just as mystifying as thinking about the size of the universe. Lets skip all the controversial ideas of creation and move right to things we can feel an accept as facts.

For humans to be comfortable, the temperature generally needs to be between 18 and 28 degrees C. A few degrees below that and it begins to get too cold and above too hot. Water freezes at 0 degree C and it boils at 100 degree C. Now think about this, life on our planet is viable at a temperature window that spans less than 100 degrees C. This is a mere blip on the scale when you consider the temperature of the rest of the universe. The moon alone changes between -233 C at night, to 123 C during the day. The very fact that life would be non existant if the temperature of earth was a miniscule fraction of a difference hotter or colder on the grand scale of things shows just how much of a miracle life is in the first place.

Considering this, I liken the odds of life on another planet to the odds of a person winning the PA and NJ lottery on the same day. First we get lucky with the necessary chemicals required for life on earth, then we get lucky again with the perfect temperature. The odds that life exists somewhere else in the universe are astronomically low. Some people may see "luck" as "intelligent design" so in that case I guess the question would be what are the odds that our intelligent creator decided to do his little experiment somewhere else. My guess is as good as yours on that one.
I have to disagree with you on the odds being astronomically low. Think about it for a second. With 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets in each galaxy. First how many others earths do you think are in our galaxy? Second how about the other billions of them? It's statistically impossible for life not to exist somewhere else.

O and by Earth I mean a planet that can sustain life.