K2-18b: every habitable planet surely has life | Letter
by Letters from on (#4Q76M)
As a new world with life-sustaining qualities is discovered, Prof Chandra Wickramasinghe discusses the likelihood that life has taken root
Your report that water vapour, perhaps even rain, has been detected in a planet in the so-called Goldilocks zone of a distant star is of no surprise because water is a common stable molecule that is found throughout the universe (Discovery of water raises hopes of life on faraway super-Earth, 12 September).
Whether this planet harbours life or not depends on how hugely improbable the startup of life really is, not just on Earth but anywhere in the cosmos.
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