Microbes First: The Practical and Theoretical Challenge of Searching for Extraterrestrial Life

To the point

Researchers consider microbes the most likely form of extraterrestrial life because they would be common, but detecting them is difficult and forces us to rethink what counts as life and as evidence, while ideas like artificial life or a shadow biosphere on Earth show how uncertain the search remains.

Searching for Extraterrestrial Life Without a Definition or Universal Theory of Life (Chapter 8) - The Quest for a Universal Theory of Life
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Searching for Extraterrestrial Life Without a Definition or Universal Theory of Life (Chapter 8) - The Quest for a Universal Theory of Life

The Quest for a Universal Theory of Life - September 2019