ladies and gents,
this should keep david bell happy:-
www.space.com/scienceastronomy/rare_earth_040803.html
study suggests with the aid of planet forming models that the solar system is the oddball when compared to exoplanets. it seems a bit of a long jump to base this on 100 known solar systems in one galaxy, but it would not be the first time a theoretical astronomer has hung themselves like this.
stephen.