We live on a biscuit in a bubble. I reckon there is other biscuits with their own bubbles out there.
Yes, there has to be, based on what we already know about the universe outside of our own solar system. The numbers of exoplanets (planets that orbit around a star like our own sun) we are aware of are growing every day. Many of these exoplanets are located relative to their own stars in a way that would be likely to reproduce conditions suitable for life to develop. The sheer numbers of galaxies that are likely to contain more exoplanets suggests there is almost certainly life outside our own solar system.
We are also discovering that our ideas about the environmental requirements for life to develop and be sustained are expanding, as well. For example, you can do a web search for “ice worms” and also bacteria that are anaerobic (do not require oxygen to survive). There might be life out there that is not carbon-based, and not made up of the types of molecular structures we associate with animals, including humans.
As for discovering whether the life forms outside our own solar system are intelligent, we have yet to accumulate the information necessary to answer this question. Intelligence would be another concept that needs a fairly wide definition. And our own experiences with natural phenomena tell us that it is unlikely that the conditions necessary for intelligent life to develop only occur on our particular planet. If such conditions only occurred on earth, that would be a rather peculiar coincidence, given the number of solar systems, galaxies, etc., in the universe we know already.
The problem with confirming “intelligent life” out there is that it would take a very long time for radio waves (which travel at the speed of light) from other exoplanets to arrive on earth. They would also need to know we are here and aim the radio waves at us. Even if intelligent beings discovered our presence here on earth, expecting such beings to be able to travel physically to our own planet is an even more unlikely proposition, given the technological problems and the physical challenges involved for any life form undertaking such a journey. It is probably better for us that is the case, because any life form capable of such technology and of enduring such a long journey would be so much further advanced than our species that the encounter would not likely end well for us.
I dont think believe is the right word. But I do think there are many planets where the conditions are good for life to develop. Looking how old the universe is and how long it took on earth before there was life there must be many way older planets that have life on them. I dont think there are many scifi planets with super smart life that can travel through space etc.
At it's most basic, Pantheism maintains that nothing exists except God, a living universe, as it were.
Life (as we know it) has been discovered on Earth in environments that until not long ago would have been thought impossible to support life, aka Extremeophiles.
Very recently, a cnidarian parasite of salmon (Myxozoa: Henneguya) was discovered that have lost genes related to aerobic respiration. In other words, does not need oxygen to survive.
Nature abhors a vacuum. I believe life is ubiquitous in the universe.
slmjim
We have anaerobic bacteria inside our own gastrointestinal systems.
"Do you think there is intelligent life on that planet?"
"No!"
"Maybe humans?"
"Could be ..."
I would have thought it almost certain (no green men though lol) - we have no real idea how far we can see, or how far ‘it’ goes on - it would be naive to think nothing else existed out there, it certainly wouldn’t be logical.
That said, it could be that we are the only planet with life - I’d be very surprised though.
Another way of looking at it is - WAS/WILL there life out there in the depths of space, more so are we related to it.
Bacteria vs multi-cellular animal. Very different things.
https://phys.org/news/2020-02-henneguya-salminicola-microscopic-parasite-mitochondrial.html
slmjim
Given the size of the universe and the number of galaxies in it, it would be statistically sound to bet on the existence of other “intelligent” life forms whatever that means, but our chances of finding them is getting smaller by the day with the expension of the universe that will prevent communication with more and more of our surrounding galaxies
This concept rests upon the assumption that there is no intelligent design in the universe. Yet we can see signs of intelligent design throughout the universe. The intricately specialized cells making up the human eye are one oft-cited example; to suppose that these various cell types were able to evolve over time requires considerable faith in evolutionary theory. On a larger scale, if earth were just a bit nearer to or farther from the sun, our environment would be inhospitable to man. Study of the natural sciences suggests a fine tuning has been conducted, which suggests the existence of a Creator. The universe is finely tuned (youtube). It is not outside the realm of possibility that a Creator could have made only one place in the universe where life exists, nor is it impossible that a Creator could have made several such worlds; but either way, it would not be a question of a planet “getting things right for life,” but rather a question of the Creator making things right for life to exist. In regard to that question, probabilities and likelihoods may be dispensed with since the existence of life elsewhere would be a matter of the Creator’s decision, and as to that (decision to create life elsewhere as well as here) we have no evidence.
“They’re made out of meat.”
“Meat?”
“Meat. They’re made out of meat.”
“Meat?”
“There’s no doubt about it. We picked several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, probed them all the way through. They’re completely meat.”
“That’s impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars.”
“They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don’t come from them. The signals come from machines.”
“So who made the machines? That’s who we want to contact.”
“They made the machines. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Meat made the machines.”
“That’s ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You’re asking me to believe in sentient meat.”
“I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. These creatures are the only sentient race in the sector and they’re made out of meat.”
“Maybe they’re like the Orfolei. You know, a carbon-based intelligence that goes through a meat stage.”
“Nope. They’re born meat and they die meat. We studied them for several of their life spans, which didn’t take too long. Do you have any idea the life span of meat?”
“Spare me. Okay, maybe they’re only part meat. You know, like the Weddilei. A meat head with an electron plasma brain inside.”
“Nope. We thought of that, since they do have meat heads like the Weddilei. But I told you, we probed them. They’re meat all the way through.”
“No brain?”
“Oh, there is a brain all right. It’s just that the brain is made out of meat!”
“So… what does the thinking?”
“You’re not understanding, are you? The brain does the thinking. The meat.”
“Thinking meat! You’re asking me to believe in thinking meat!”
“Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat. The meat is the whole deal! Are you getting the picture?”
“Omigod. You’re serious then. They’re made out of meat.”
“Finally, Yes. They are indeed made out meat. And they’ve been trying to get in touch with us for almost a hundred of their years.”
“So what does the meat have in mind.”
“First it wants to talk to us. Then I imagine it wants to explore the universe, contact other sentients, swap ideas and information. The usual.”
“We’re supposed to talk to meat?”
“That’s the idea. That’s the message they’re sending out by radio. ‘Hello. Anyone out there? Anyone home?’ That sort of thing.”
“They actually do talk, then. They use words, ideas, concepts?”
“Oh, yes. Except they do it with meat.”
“I thought you just told me they used radio.”
“They do, but what do you think is on the radio? Meat sounds. You know how when you slap or flap meat it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat.”
“Omigod. Singing meat. This is altogether too much. So what do you advise?”
“Officially or unofficially?”
“Both.”
“Officially, we are required to contact, welcome, and log in any and all sentient races or multibeings in the quadrant, without prejudice, fear, or favor. Unofficially, I advise that we erase the records and forget the whole thing.”
“I was hoping you would say that.”
“It seems harsh, but there is a limit. Do we really want to make contact with meat?”
“I agree one hundred percent. What’s there to say?” `Hello, meat. How’s it going?’ But will this work? How many planets are we dealing with here?”
“Just one. They can travel to other planets in special meat containers, but they can’t live on them. And being meat, they only travel through C space. Which limits them to the speed of light and makes the possibility of their ever making contact pretty slim. Infinitesimal, in fact.”
“So we just pretend there’s no one home in the universe.”
“That’s it.”
“Cruel. But you said it yourself, who wants to meet meat? And the ones who have been aboard our vessels, the ones you have probed? You’re sure they won’t remember?”
“They’ll be considered crackpots if they do. We went into their heads and smoothed out their meat so that we’re just a dream to them.”
“A dream to meat! How strangely appropriate, that we should be meat’s dream.”
“And we can marked this sector unoccupied.”
“Good. Agreed, officially and unofficially. Case closed. Any others? Anyone interesting on that side of the galaxy?”
“Yes, a rather shy but sweet hydrogen core cluster intelligence in a class nine star in G445 zone. Was in contact two galactic rotation ago, wants to be friendly again.”
“They always come around.”
“And why not? Imagine how unbearably, how unutterably cold the universe would be if one were all alone.”
Hilarious! Did you come up with this yourself, or are you quoting from a book you’ve read? If the latter, attribution please! Some of us might enjoy reading a good science fiction book.
"They talk by flapping their meat at each other."
Ya' owe me a keyboard & a cuppa coffee.
slmjim
You seem to have missed my point. I never claimed that bacteria and intestinal parasites are the same type of organism. I was pointing out that the anaerobic parasite in salmon aren’t the only anaerobic organisms on earth, and that we have such organisms in our own bodies. I hope that clarifies my point enough to be better understood.
It’s a short story I come across by American writer Terry Bisson I think when I was searching for the answer myself 
That was hilarious and thought provoking in a strange way.
Question should be: Is there intelligent life on earth.
Answer: yeah, but not for long.
With exponential growth, we may well be eating each other in the near future, for lack of sustainable food. Which is why I won’t mind being stardust some day. 
Boom, latta.
How arrogant we earthlings are, the universe revolves around our puny, and soon to
be overwhelmed blue marble.
No, it doesn’t rely on the assumption that there is no intelligent design in the universe. It rests on probability theory and evolutionary biology, both of which have a lot of scientific evidence to support them. The facts you mention to support intelligent design theory actually support various scientifically-proven theories in astronomy, biology, and evolution. The assumption that a “creator” would be necessary in the form of a kind of supernatural being, for life to exist outside earth, is not an idea I’m going to address in this forum, other than to ask how you would provide scientific evidence to support it?
There are something like 10^22 to 10^24 stars in the universe. Many of those have planets.
Can’t remember who it was that said: statistical the chance there is life on one of those planets is bigger than the chance there is NO life present on any of those planets.
To make things more interesting: how many universes are there. Are these all parallel?
I belief there is some form of life (define life?) out there. That we are not the only lifeform.
Nobody can deny me believing in something like that (or in anything at all).
Don’t ask me for proof of this belief, as I am not asking others for proof of what they belief.
I just don’t belief it looks like upright walking 6ft bipeds with a giant lobster claw on one side.
Life on earth is carbon based, and almost all need oxygen for administering/distributing energy.
There are materials in the universe that are possible alternative candidates, like silicon and iron.
My question is not: where are they, but why not.
Of course there is extraterrestrial intelligence. Thinking, that we are only one is irrational.
Mike