"What exactly does it mean when it is said that life is carbon-based? Could life on another planet or moon be based on a different element?"
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Question
Everyone has shown evidence that life could exist on other planets. What evidence is there that tell us that life doesn't exist in space?
There is, as you note, a great deal of information suggesting that life as we know it could exist on some planets beyond our own Earth -- but there is no direct evidence of extraterrestrial life. This is a case, however, where absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. In other words, there is no evidence that life does not exist beyond the Earth. We just don't have the tools yet to detect it, even on our close neighbor Mars.
David Morrison
NAI Senior Scientist
October 18, 2004
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