Skepticism, Science & Pseudoscience

has planets (My Son The Astronomer does exo-planet research), it's important to realize that the conditions that actually lead to life of any kind are probably very rare.

First off, some 70% of stars are red dwarfs, so if life evolves on planets around a red dwarf, it's probably going to be very different from our life. Only about 7-8% of the stars in our galaxy are like the sun.

There's also a Goldilocks zone for stars, just as there's a Goldilocks zone for planets. Get close to the center of the galaxy and stars are so close together that radiation is a huge problem, and would probably prevent life at all. Too far out may likewise not be so good either.

It also may well be that having a relatively large moon, as we do, is absolutely crucial. It gives us the tides, which probably had a positive influence on life.