Geophysicists are still puzzling over how the earth's magnetic field and Van Allen radiation belts protect the surface from deadly particles in the solar wind.
SETI has had no success since the 1950s. It lost government funding in 1993. It still has had no success. Why is the government throwing tax dollars at it again?
The new Mars InSight lander that launched this morning will be digging for geology, not life. Most likely, as before, it will find lifeless dirt and rock.