What are the odds there is life in outer space – Richard Dawkins asks Neil Degrasse tyson

Richard Dawkins asks Neil deGrasse about what are his thoughts on the probability of life existing elsewhere in the universe. Neil is very positive about having life as the basic ingredients for having life are in abundance in the universe, as we are mostly made up of carbon.

Brief Background –

Ever since humans acknowledged the enormity of the universe, we have intuited that life must exist somewhere, either in our galaxy or some galaxy far, far away. If the­ universe contains billions of galaxies, and if each galaxy contains billions of stars, and if a fraction of those stars have Earth-like planets, then hundreds — maybe even thousands — of alien civilizations must exist across the cosmos. Right?

For a while, science contented itself with the logic alone. Then, in 1995, astronomers located the first planets outside our solar system. Since then, they’ve detected nearly 300 of these extra-solar planets. Although most are large, hot planets similar to Jupiter (which is why they’re easier to find), smaller, Earth-like planets are beginning to reveal themselves. In June 2008, European astronomers found three planets, all a little larger than Earth, orbiting a star 42 light-years away.