We often hear exciting news about 'habitable planets' that might have life, or at least the 'building blocks of life.' Are these reports based on sound thinking about the requirements?
The data gathering phase is over, but the data mining phase will continue for years. This entry also shares some news about other solar system objects showing youthfulness.
Believers in space aliens, or even space bacteria, have cast all restraint to the wind. SETI today is indistinguishable from a cult, and so is its stepchild, astrobiology.