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Originally Posted by blankall
Not sure about all of them, but it would definitely not be a shock to me if we discovered microbial life within our solar system. The idea that even microscopic life didn't evolve over the course of billions of years seems unlikely to me.
Will we ever find something larger, the size of an animal within our solar system? That would be pretty crazy.
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It seems to me that anything that has water and some form of heat driven chemical process should harbour at least some form of life.
The moons of Jupiter specifically intrigue me because, while far from the sun, the pull between it and Jupiter create active cores that are interacting with vast liquid oceans. I can't see how there's not life there.
I would actually be very stunned to not find at least evidence of life at some point on Mars like fossils or the like. But with enough subsurface water to cover the planet in 2KM of water...it's possible that anything that lived on the surface at any point could now be living underground. Although my understanding is Mars' core is dead so there's nothing heating the inner part of the planet. Also, if there's any tech human's can definitely do its drill. With confirmation now of the water, I'd love to see-planning started on how to get to it. There's no reason why a remote operated drill can't be sent there. No need to wait for manned missions.
Planetary geology and formation is super interesting stuff.