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The discussion of scale again got me thinking about the relatedness of life, especially life on earth. The fact that all life is made of carbon atoms, and that carbon atoms are the product of supernova explosions, made me realize that perhaps extraterrestrial life might be made of carbon atoms as well. I had been thinking of life on earth as completely different from and unrelated to life elsewhere, but now I think that if we were to find life elsewhere in the universe, it might at the very least have that in common with us. Thinking big makes me feel small, but also very connected, if you catch my drift. However, we still have not found life elsewhere, and so for now we must focus on the circumstances that allowed for life on our tiny earth. Perhaps this will help us identify life somewhere else.