If we ever find aliens, they'll be thirsty.
We all know that people need water to live, but the universe is a big place, which raises questions: Would alien life need water, too? And how much water is out there, anyway? To get a broader perspective, GOOD talked with Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI).GOOD: Why is water so important for life?Seth Shostak: Imagine taking your old chemistry set out and dumping it onto the living-room floor. Not much happens, except maybe your mom gets upset. Now, if you bring over a pail of water and throw it on top, then something will happen. Water is great for life for that very straightforward reason: It's good for chemistry.G: Couldn't you just use another liquid?SS: Yeah, in principle. But if you actually look at the kind of things that would be liquid, and that might be on planets you can imagine, water still comes out as the best fit. One of the reasons for that is that water is liquid over a very wide range of temperatures: 33 degrees to 212 degrees Fahrenheit. These other liquids you might find-ammonia, methane, those sorts of things, maybe even liquid hydrogen on the surface of Jupiter if you had that-they're only liquid in a very small and unfortunate range of temperatures.G: So how much water is there in the universe?SS: Hydrogen is the number one element in the universe. Three-quarters of the universe by weight is hydrogen. And the third most popular element in the entire cosmos is oxygen. There's a lot of H and a lot of O, and when they get together you get water. So there's a lot of water out there.G: Do we know where it is?SS: Water vapor-you'll probably find that in any planet that has an atmosphere. But liquid water? If you send Bruce Willis to Mars with a bunch of roughnecks and have them drill down a couple hundred feet-maybe not even that far-you'd probably find liquid water. We're not 100 percent sure, but that's one place it's likely to be. The second place is Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. It's covered in ice. But the odds are probably 90 percent that if you send a probe or something and melt it through the hard ice that's covering that moon, you'd find a big ocean underneath with as much water in it as the Atlantic and the Pacific added together times two.Callisto and Ganymede, both additional moons of Jupiter, probably have liquid water oceans. Even Titan might have some liquid water occasionally. Another moon of Saturn, called Enceladus, has these big geysers coming out. So there's some water. In the atmosphere of Venus-if you get away from the surface, which is really much too toasty for life, and go up a couple of miles where it gets cooler-maybe there are some water droplets up there.So there are seven other worlds just in our solar system that might have liquid water. And water must be pretty common in interstellar space, too, by the way just molecules hanging around. So you expect a lot of water. There's no shortage of water. Except, you know, in Israel."There's a lot of H and a lot of O, and when they get together you get water. So there's a lot of water out there."G: And San Diego, among other places. Can you imagine life without water?SS: Well, it's hard. There are people who have imagined life without water because in the end they say, what is life, really? The answer to that question is "we don't know." There's no good definition of life. And every 10th grader would disagree with you because they've read their biology textbooks and they'd say, "You know, life: It has a metabolism, so it takes food and it excretes something and it reproduces and it moves around," and they've got this little laundry list of things. But the fact is, you can always find exceptions. Fire reproduces but it's not alive. Mules don't reproduce but they are alive. So we don't really know what life is. And people have been ingenious in thinking of ways in which we could have organized activity that everyone would say was life even though there wasn't any water involved.But I think that if we find extraterrestrial intelligence, there's a very big chance that that's not biological at all. The reason is that once a civilization invents radio, and we can find it with our SETI experiments, within 100, 200, 300 years, it creates artificial intelligence.In terms of the great scheme of things, that's essentially right after you invent radio. It just seems statistically very likely, if you pick up a signal, that it's coming from a society that has already gone through that quick stage, and has moved on to artificial intelligence. And if you have artificial intelligence, maybe you don't need liquid water anymore. My computer doesn't need liquid water. In fact, it doesn't even like liquid water. I put it in the bathtub and it refuses to function.
Wiman hiding her face behind a bunch of cashCanva
A mansion and its reflection in the swimming poolCanva
Salzburg at nightCanva
Fancy homeCanva
Happy volunteersCanva
Parents of young children get more time with them if they work from home.Photo credit: Canva
Juicy subject matter
Giphy from The Blacklist.
We could start a rumor.
Grieving couple comforting each other
This response to someone grieving a friend might be the best internet comment ever
When someone is hit with the sudden loss of a friend or loved one, words rarely feel like enough. Yet, more than a decade ago, a wise Redditor named GSnow shared thoughts so profound they still bring comfort to grieving hearts today.
Originally posted around 2011, the now-famous reply was rediscovered when Upvoted, an official Reddit publication, featured it again to remind everyone of its enduring truth. It began as a simple plea for help: “My friend just died. I don't know what to do.”
What followed was a piece of writing that many consider one of the internet’s best comments of all time. It remains shared across social media, grief forums, and personal messages to this day because its honesty and metaphor speak to the raw reality of loss and the slow, irregular path toward healing.
Below is GSnow’s full reply, unchanged, in all its gentle, wave-crashing beauty:
Why this advice still matters
Mental health professionals and grief counselors often describe bereavement in stages or phases, but GSnow’s “wave theory” gives an image more relatable for many. Rather than a linear process, grief surges and retreats—sometimes triggered by a song, a place, or a simple morning cup of coffee.
In recent years, this metaphor has found renewed relevance. Communities on Reddit, TikTok, and grief support groups frequently reshare it to help explain the unpredictable nature of mourning.
Many readers say this analogy helps them feel less alone, giving them permission to ride each wave of grief rather than fight it.
Finding comfort in shared wisdom
Since this comment first surfaced, countless people have posted their own stories underneath it, thanking GSnow and passing the words to others facing fresh heartbreak. It’s proof that sometimes, the internet can feel like a global support group—strangers linked by shared loss and hope.
For those searching for more support today, organizations like The Dougy Center, GriefShare, and local bereavement groups offer compassionate resources. If you or someone you know is struggling with intense grief, please reach out to mental health professionals who can help navigate these deep waters.
When grief comes crashing like the ocean, remember these words—and hang on. There is life between the waves.
This article originally appeared four years ago.