First off great programming, loved the show, completely intrigued.

Here's my question: I understand that water is the basis for life on earth, but how sure can we be that it's also the basis for all forms of life throughout the universe?

Granted, science advances by applying what we already know to new phenomena - and we know earth, and life on earth, and the importance of water. So it's only natural to expand from those premises.

But at the same time, couldn't there be other ways for life to originate? Isn't it possible that different planets might work under different laws, advancing from different types of chemical compounds?

A piece of this question is unanswerable (e.g., if other planets abide by laws that we can't discover on earth, how would we ever discover those laws to begin with?). But at the same time, from the Theory of Relativity (and later to other branches of science), we know that similar phenomena abide by different laws depending on their context.

Not that we should all throw our hands up and philosophize about whether logic and math are different on other planets. But I think the question (of different ways of life to evolve without water) can still be approached soberly and rationally.

Consider evolution, and how many paths it's taken. On the one hand, people used to view human intelligence and consciousness as a special yet somewhat whimsical fruit of nature (or creation). But from an evolutionary perspective, it's just the natural output of millions of years of survival.

I kind of get the same feeling when astronomers comb the sky for planets that are the perfect distance from the sun. It's as if they're looking for a whimsical piece of nature, an outlier. But maybe the growth of life on other planets is more complicated than one would think (things always are). Could our assumptions about the import of water be wrong?

Anyway, sorry for rambling. Would be curious about anyone's responses.

Your right some times I think people can be so narrow minded. Maybe its because scientists don’t want to find goo using around or flying through an atmosphere like Jupiter’s. But I think the reason they want to find water on Mars is simple, if rovers find water then a habitat for humans can be sustained with out water having to be rocked out to mars. Water is heavy.