Which discovery suggests the processes that formed life on Earth could have occurred elsewhere?

• A. Exoplanets exist.
• B. The laws of physics are the same everywhere.
• C. Earth is the only planet with life.
• D. Water oceans exist on some moons.

Answer: (B)

The universality of physical laws is the key idea. If gravity, thermodynamics, chemical bonding, and energy flow operate the same everywhere, the same chemical pathways that could assemble complex molecules and eventually give rise to life on Earth could also occur on other worlds under similar conditions. This makes it scientifically plausible that life-origin processes are not unique to our planet, given enough time and the right environment.

Exoplanets existing shows there are other worlds with the potential for life, but it doesn’t by itself demonstrate that life-forming processes occurred there. Earth being the only planet with life would contradict what we know. Water oceans on some moons suggest habitability but don’t prove that life-origin processes happened there either; they just indicate environments where such processes could be possible.