[ExI] Eternity in six hours: intergalactic spreading of intelligent life and sharpening the Fermi paradox

[Eugen Leitl]

On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 02:28:24PM +0100, BillK wrote:
> On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 2:12 PM, Eugen Leitl  wrote:
> > The authors sure didn't. You did. Hint: the article has nothing
> > whatsoever to do with the origin of life. We already know that
> > prebiotic chemistry was clement enough at least in one instance.
> >
> >
> 
> Yes, it does. Organic molecules are a necessary precursor to life.
> Complex organic molecules have already been detected in dust clouds
> and this paper shows how organic chemistry flourishes in cold dust
> clouds in space.

Many papers have done that. So what?
 
> To date nobody - not even you - knows how life is created, but we do

This is correct. We might or might know more when we send probes outside
of the inner solar system. There's plenty of juicy stuff out there.

> know that organic chemistry comes first and we now also know that
> organic chemistry is not limited to 'habitable zones'.

That insight is at least a century old. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenesis

It's a surprisingly good article, for Wikipedia. Gives you a nice overview.