Comment Re:Thermodynamics (Score 1) 312
Actually, I thought the whole idea of the "Goldilocks universe" was that life could develop anywhere without the need for a star at the right distance (otherwise there's no advantage). The problem then is exactly as you pointed out. There's no way for life to extract energy, no matter what the temperature is, because everything is at thermal equilibrium. The only way to get energy is through a star. And if you have a star, then having the microwave background doesn't help and is just likely to just make your planet too hot.