Out in the universe, almost anything is possible: black holes could lead to other

universes, the discovery of wormholes, even life on other planets. Different opinions and

different theories state contradicting things about life existing on other planets; some people are

almost positive it’s possible and some think it will never, ever happen. With so many different

theories out there, it is mind-boggling to think of life on different planets; one must take into

consideration that it is nearly impossible that we will ever know of one in our lifetime.

If life were even possible on other planets, there would be many factors that would make

or break the possibility. Two of the most important characteristics for a planet to have are water

and a position in the habitable zone. Water is a vital source to all life organisms, because it is the

key ingredient needed for a body to run, it also is the only thing that would be able to produce

more life, giving the organisms more food. Without water, life would die off quickly, because of

the lack of creation of new food. Another important aspect of a planet being able to house life is

being in the habitable zone. This is a zone that is not too close, but not too far away from the star

the planet is orbiting. The reason that this is so vital to the life’s well being is because it keeps

the temperature from rising or dropping extremely, making it easier for life to survive. Without

these two components, life would be impossible.

Out of the 7 other planets and 1 dwarf planet in our solar system, only one planet and a

few moons might have life; this includes Mars. Mars has the right characteristics that would be

able to support life; many scientists believe that it contains water and is in the habitable zone.

Although we may think there is no water on this planet, scientists have seen deep valleys through

telescopes that may have at one point contained water. Also, in 1984, they discovered a meteorite

that had come from Mars in Antarctica. This meteorite contained organic molecules, suggesting

that bacterial life was on Mars. This means that life organisms might actually exist on a different

planet.

Even if we would be unsuccessful in finding life on Mars, there are still billions of

planets out there left for us to search. With so many in the universe, there has to be one that

contains life. The question is, how would we find it? Many scientists believe that some black

holes are a link to other galaxies, some of the largest in the universe. If that is true, it would help

us be able to find the other planets easier; but the chance that we would be able to travel to a

black hole that actually had a link to another galaxy and not be crushed in the process is slim to

none.

Although there might be a possibility we could travel to other galaxies through black

holes, we still a very, very slim chance of discovering a planet with life. There are billions and

billions of planets out there and we cannot search each one from head to toe for life. Even if we

did find life on another planet, it would most likely not resemble anything of us; it might not

even be intelligent life for all we know. With these slim chances, it is very likely that we will

never be able to find life on other planets.

It is likely that there are planets that contain life in the universe, but knowing how large

the universe is, we must not get our hopes up about finding it. With more and more research, we

may be able to come close to knowing if there are other life-housing planets out there, but this

will take some time. For now, we must understand how huge and massive the universe is, and

that somewhere there probably is some form of life.