All life as we know it is carbon-based and reliant on sources of liquid water and energy for its survival; it is also, of course, known from just one planet: the Earth, a world perfectly suited to host life. But across a universe of at least 100 billion habitable, earthlike worlds, life cannot be restricted to just this one place. Or can it? The Earth is just the right distance from the sun - within the so-called 'Goldilocks zone' - and has a protective shielding atmosphere to allow for life to thrive. Life's journey in four billion years from single-celled organism to upright humanoids with the capacity to undertake missions to other planets is remarkable. But there is a chance that life exists (or existed) elsewhere in the solar system, and recent discoveries of just how common planets are in other systems means it is highly likely that life does indeed occur on other planets.

ISBN: 9781472920119