Jar's point is well taken. A necessary understanding any time we find ourselves talking of the 'right environmental conditions' for life is that we necessarily mean life as we know it. The reason is practical. We just aren't in a position to discuss life as we don't know it.
It's worth noting, though, that as knowledge of biological chemistry grows, the search for life within our solar system increasingly moves farther out from the sun than our own orbit. Mars, Europa, and Titan are the most intriguing possibilities now.
If the right chemical conditions obtain, distance from the sun could be less inhibiting a factor than once thought. Other ways exist in the solar system to gain some heat, ameliorate temperature extremes, and provide UV protection than those our own planet provides. Europa, for example, appears to possess vast liquid oceans under the surface ice.
I'm sure that, whatever we eventually find, Einstein will remain right. The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we
can imagine.
Archer
All species are transitional.
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