So what happens if someone is out there?

I've never doubted there's life outside our solar system.

Instead, I've wondered how we define life and what would we do if we found some other "intelligent" being out there.

On the first point there's always been this assumption we need to find water to help sustain life. But that's assuming other life needs water or light for that matter. For a long time we assumed light was also critical but then found creatures in the deepest parts of the ocean thriving without access to light.

On the second point -- what do we do if we find life -- there seems to be someone else asking the same question. (See full article in Seed magazine.)

The article poses some interesting questions including -- who do we send these beings to if they want to talk to our leader? Also -- are we endangering ourselves by announcing our presence to others? Which leads me to believe we should just actively listen but keep our mouths shut.