Honestly, me neither. I'm just a software engineer who is excited about space and hopes for the best. =)

> but it would be fucking awesome.

Wouldn't it? Holy hell, that would be wonderful. I hope it happens soon. Discovering life on Europa would be our generation's moon landing.

Thanks for the clarification. My knowledge of biology is limited, so I imagined each step (crude self-replicating molecules -> sophisticated DNA -> the cell -> etc.) being roughly as unlikely as the next. I had no idea eukaryotic cells were such a massive jump.

Earlier today I was watching a documentary about the Kepler telescope's search for exoplanets[0] that estimated the number of planets in our galaxy at 10^19. So many of those planets are unsuitable for any life, microbial or otherwise, but such a large number fills me with hope that the unlikely miracle of eukaryotic evolution could happen more than once. Then again, there are very plausible interpretations of the Drake equation[1] that pin the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy to less than 5...maybe even 1...so who knows?

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD6QHP9ouuU [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation