He's got the whole world in his hands

On my list of many things to do today is an interesting task.

"Your assignment is to read and write about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence

(SETI). Specifically, briefly give informed commentary on:

A. Do you think they are out there, somewhere? Why or why not?"

So as I am researching articles proving or disproving that extraterrestrial beings are out there somewhere in an unknown galaxy I came across this. The following is an excerpt from one of my articles about the many different components necessary in any planet to be able to sustain life and I can't help but sit in awe of what an incredible creator we have. If just one of these components were missing or altered life as we know it would be impossible.

"In their book of that title, Rare Earth authors Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee, both of the University of Washington have outlined a short list of conditions needed: Right distance from a

star; habitat for complex life; liquid water near surface; far enough to avoid tidal lock; right mass of star with long enough lifetime and not too much ultraviolet; stable planetary orbits; right

planet mass to maintain atmosphere and ocean with a solid molten core and enough heat for plate tectonics; a Jupiter-like neighbor to clear out comets and asteroids; plate tectonics to build up

land mass, enhance bio-diversity, and enable a magnetic field; not too much, nor too little ocean; a large moon at the right distance to stabilize tilt; a small Mars-like neighbor as possible source

to seed Earth-like planet; maintenance of adequate temperature, composition and pressure for plants and animals; a galaxy with enough heavy elements, not too small, elliptical or irregular;

right position the galaxy; few giant impacts like had 65 million years ago; enough carbon for life, but not enough for runaway greenhouse effect; evolution of oxygen and photosynthesis; and, of

course, biological evolution."

Amazing, right?

He's got the whole world in his hands.