8 Awesome Ways Life Could Be Forming In The Universe

5. Orbiting A Black Hole

Given their reputation as the boogeymen of the universe, life orbiting a black hole might be more comfortable hat you might imagine.

Much like in the movie Interstellar, planets can orbit black holes much like they orbit stars and, what's more, some of them could probably support life. Despite the name, black holes are some of the brightest objects in the galaxy, thanks to its glowing accretion disk. A black hole emits light, but not much in the way of warmth, making it something of a cold sun.

So the black hole is cold but, by comparison, space is warm, with the radiation left over from the big bang permeating every nook and cranny. These days, the afterburn, or the Cosmic Microwave Background, comes in at a cool 2.7 kelvin (about -270 ˚C), which would actually be warm enough for simple life to form.

Earlier in the universe's history, however, the CMB was much hotter, perhaps around 300 kelvin (27 ˚C), making it perfectly possible for a civilisation to rise up under a cold black sun. Perhaps they'd be the goths of the Milky Way?