We’re assuming that alien life requires the same things we do, why?
In: Biology
In addition to the other good answers, I’d also like to add that the reasons also have to do with chemistry, particularly with carbon and it’s interaction with oxygen and chemical reactions occurring in water based environments. Based on the modern understanding of chemistry, only certain molecules can react with others in complex ways so this restricts the possibilities of what other life forms are likely to have. This conclusion is not necessarily dependent on studying living organisms we see on earth, it is just a fact about how chemicals interact.
It doesn’t mean this is correct of course, only that our understanding of chemistry makes it seem unlikely that other types of molecules would lead to life. There are some they disagree and have created alternative hypothetical biochemistries with different molecules. To date none of these have been found in any life form on earth.
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