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Originally Posted by willravel
I would say that kurtisj's statement is true as of right this minute. No one has proven life exists on other planets, asteroids, other heavenly bodies, or in the vaccume of space. Until we find an amino acid or protien (or talking monkeys....wait....it was Earth!!!) out there, we simply don't know.
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We have found amino acids in meteorites.
Guess I just changed your view of the cosmos eh?
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Carbonaceous chondrites carry a record of chemical evolution that is unparalleled among presently accessible natural materials. Within the complex suite of organic compounds that characterize these meteorites, amino acids occur at a total concentration that may reach 0.6 micromole g-1 meteorite (approximately 60 ppm). Both free amino acids and acid-labile amino acid derivatives have been found in hot-water extracts of a CI1 and seven CM2 chondrites. Although the amino acid composition of all CM2 chondrites is not the same, differences may be largely explicable on the basis of spontaneous and biologically-caused decomposition occurring during their terrestrial residence. The amino acids of the Murchison meteorite (CM2) have been extensively analyzed and 52 amino acids have been positively identified. Thirty three of these amino acids are unknown in natural materials other than carbonaceous chondrites.
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On a side note I didn't get into the concept that microbes live FAR below the earths surface, but I figure thermal vents are far more spectacular if no more valid an example.
If you wish to argue there is no other life until you see it, so be it, but I think the odds of there not being like conditions out there that match some habitat that life is found on earth is so small as to not needing to be considered.