"Is complex animal life common in the universe or are we the only ones at this level of existence?"
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Would be possible find on extra-solaris planets a new form of life never seen before on earth; this way, any planet would be a likely to have life.
No one knows, but I think your idea makes sense. Even other carbon-based life on another world might be based on different chemistry and different kinds of metabolism and genetic coding. Whether non-carbon-based life is possible is a more difficult question. Astrobiologists look for carbon-based life for two reasons: the chemical properties of carbon are conducive to the complex molecules that are needed for life; and we don't have the technology or scientific understanding to recognize life that is not carbon-based. David Morrison
NAI Senior Scientist
August 14, 2007
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