Life's solution: inevitable humans in a lonely universe

The assassin's bullet misses, the Archduke's carriage moves forward, and a catastrophic war is avoided.

So too with the history of life. Re-run the tape of life, as Stephen J. Gould claimed, and the outcome must be entirely different: an alien world, without humans and maybe not even intelligence.

The history of life is littered with accidents: any twist or turn may lead to a completely different world.

Now this view is being challenged. Simon Conway Morris explores the evidence demonstrating life's almost eerie ability to navigate to a single solution, repeatedly.

Eyes, brains, tools, even culture: all are very much on the cards.

So if these are all evolutionary inevitabilities, where are our counterparts across the galaxy?

The tape of life can only run on a suitable planet, and it seems that such Earth-like planets may be much rarer than hoped.

Inevitable humans, yes, but in a lonely Universe.