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Originally Posted by kurtisj
could you elaborate a little more about the thermal vents? what planet(s) would this open up the possibility for?
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There are geo-thermal vents deep in the oceans which release hot water and chemicals from the earth. An entire ecosystem has been found living off these vents under extreme heat and pressure. In what should be a lifeless area, unable to get energy from the sun, it was discovered that that sun was not needed for complex biology to survive. Bacteria live off the chemical energy, and the food chain goes up from there.
There has also been life found in areas with hydrocarbon concentrations, and worms that live on methane hydrate.
Life is VERY persistent. Its foolish to assume that somewhere out there, even in our own solar system, there are not conditions that are like one of the earths many habitats. There may not be life, but the conditions which favor it, even if the conditions don't favor us, are going to be there.
There is also proof that once the world was completely covered with ice, yet life persisted and continued to evolve. These conditions are believed to be found on Jupiters moon Europa, which is ice covered and shows signs of liquid water underneath. Many put the best chance for life outside of the earth in this possible ocean, though I think they underestimate the potential of other environments.
Either way it will be a long long time before we know, any probes are just speculation, plus the probes themselves would need to be able to pierce the ice, not an easy task to make a lander for.