within caves on the Martian landscape, the mineral gypsum has been discovered by probes and rovers, which can only form in pools of water. This suggests the presence, either currently or recently, of water on Mars. Further afield, the moon Europa has been confirmed as a prime candidate for life within the Solar System. It's cracked, scarred surface is a huge clue to Europa's still geologically active core, leading to conjecture that there may be life in the vast, icy ocean below the moon's thick, frozen outer shell. It is clear that there is much to be confirmed about our own surroundings before we disregard them and start to look further out into the Universe for intelligence. I think on the balance of probability you must be right. In its simplest terms if the universe is of infinite size there must be an infinite number of suitable planets for life to start. I continue to be surprised however that there are no signs whatever. Have a star for a "proper" question by the way. Perhaps, right at this very moment, there is no other intelligent life in the universe trying to contact us. Nor are they able to receive any signals we send out. Or, they're so far away that the signals we have sent out since radio transmission was invented hasn't gotten to them yet. Or, it's drowned out by cosmic radiation, or simply overshadowed by the radiation from the sun. Or, perhaps that intelligent life already existed and