[photon]

Little chance isn't the same as no chance.

Of course the distance problem is real, in the context of our best understanding the problem may be anywhere from significant to insurmountable.

And even if we did "figure out" the distance problem that doesn't mean that makes aliens any more likely.

Live sprang up and evolved once, so it's reasonable to expect that it would do it more than once. But until we have some positive evidence that it has in fact happened then it's nothing more than speculation and hopeful thinking.