So mayyyyybbe there’s the *potential* for life on Enceladus. *Maybe*.

Now, let’s not get too excited. A little excited is fine, but further observations are required: “The same sorts of chemical reactions that sustain life near deep-sea hydrothermal vents here on Earth could potentially be occurring within Enceladus’ subsurface ocean, a new study published today (April 13) in the journal Science suggests.” Enceladus is a moon of Saturn (sayeth he, just as if he knew that before he read the article) which apparently has liquid water underneath its ice surface.  If there’s water and if there’s the equivalent of those vents, there’s the possibility of at least primitive life.  Not likely to be sophisticated, not likely at all to be able to grow too much more in complexity, effectively impossible that it’s anything resembling intelligent… but it’d be life, which would then instantly convert Terran life into being a statistic.

This would be good.  Trying to discuss extraterrestrial life when we don’t actually even know if it really is possible for it to develop elsewhere can be frustrating. We need more data for the models. We need any data for the models, honestly.