From Ernest Ager, Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, UK
Bryn Glover gives a negative assessment of the likelihood of life elsewhere in the universe. This is based on a Â鶹´«Ã½ article stating the odds of the formation of the last universal common ancestor from a soup of chemicals as “less than 1 in a billion” (Letters, 3 January).
Of course, we cannot be absolutely certain that a soup of chemicals is required, that DNA is necessary, that life must be protoplasmic, etc. All of these theoretical possibilities must raise the likelihood by offering other pathways. However, using the same argument, an estimated total of 1 septillion stars divided by the quoted odds of less than 1 billion still provides much room for optimism!
