A survey revealed that scientists are contemplating the existence of extraterrestrial life.

In a series of anonymously conducted studies, over 1000 scientists participated, including 521 astrobiologists and 534 specialists from other fields such as physics, biology, and more. Astrobiology explores the possibility of the emergence, evolution, and preservation of life on other planets in the Universe. The focus was placed on representatives of this discipline to determine whether they are more optimistic in assessing the likelihood of extraterrestrial life compared to other scientists.

Astrobiologists were presented with three statements in the surveys. The first addressed the probability of life existing in the Universe (at least in basic forms), the second discussed more complex extraterrestrial organisms, and the third referred to intelligent beings with cognitive abilities comparable to or exceeding those of humans. Respondents were required to express their level of agreement or disagreement with the statements using a standard five-point Likert scale.

In a follow-up survey among scientists from various fields, researchers focused solely on the first statement. The article detailing the findings was published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

It turned out that the vast majority of scientists agreed that there must be at least basic forms of life somewhere in the Universe. This opinion was expressed by over 86% of astrobiologists and more than 88% of other specialists. Strong disagreement with this statement was voiced by only 0.4% and 2.4% of respondents in the respective groups.

Most respondents—67.4% and 58.2%—also agreed with the two other statements regarding the existence of more complex and intelligent extraterrestrial organisms. Only 10.2% of astrobiologists rejected the third formulation.

Although the survey of the scientific community indicated a high level of consensus regarding the possibility of life beyond Earth, the researchers noted that the results do not provide complete certainty that this is indeed the case, due to the lack of direct empirical evidence of extraterrestrial life.

Nevertheless, in a detailed commentary published in The Conversation, the authors of the article emphasized that respondents could choose a neutral response, positioned between agreement and disagreement. However, only 12% of those surveyed did so, indicating a moderate level of confidence among scientists. The researchers linked this to the presence of numerous “indirect” or “theoretical” evidence for the existence of life beyond Earth.