Part 6/8:
She notes that discovering just one more example of life elsewhere—the "sample set"—would be invaluable. It would enable scientists to develop constraints, understand life's universality, and refine our definitions. The exploration of our solar system—Mars, Europa, Enceladus, and even Venus—may soon provide these crucial data points.
The Quest for Universal Laws of Life
Walker is interested in whether there are fundamental laws that govern living systems, similar to gravity in physics. If such laws exist, they could deepen our understanding of life as a universal phenomenon, rooted in the fabric of reality itself. This pursuit seeks to uncover principles that might unify biology and physics, revealing the underlying rules that dictate life's emergence and persistence across the cosmos.