Is There Life on Other Planets?

Most scientists believe that, yes, there may be life on other planets.

What scientists look for when searching for alien life are stars that are similar to our sun, and planets that show evidence of water, an atmosphere that contains oxygen or methane, and a planet that is neither too far nor too close to its sun. Scientists believe that water is a necessary component of life, so a planet with none cannot support life (at least not life as we know it). In our solar system, the planet most similar to ours is Mars, however, scientists have not found evidence that life exists there, or that it ever did. There is evidence that there was once water on Mars, however, there doesn't seem to be any water on Mars now. Mars does have a lot of water ice at the polar caps, but the temperature on Mars at the poles is too cold for this ice to melt.

At Mars equator it does get to a comfortable daytime temperature that is slightly above 60 °F (16°C) but there isn't ice or water at the equator and Mars equator gets very cold during the nighttime, below -200 °F (-129 °C). This means that any life that might be inclined to form during the daytime would probably not survive the night. Scientists are still investigating whether or not life ever existed on Mars.

Scientists are also investigating whether or not some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn are capable of supporting life, such as Jupiter's moon Europa, for example. The planets Jupiter and Saturn themselves certainly don't seem capable of supporting life.

Source: www.outerspacesite.com