Re: Best petri dish
" Dunkin donuts exist on earth, but I doubt they exist elsewhere in the universe."
It's probably not called "dunkin dobuts" ... but when you look at the chemistry involved, I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that there is a dunkin-like high-fat, high-sugar confectionery-esque item that can be traded for in one way or another elsewhere in the universe,
Think about it. How do you make a doughnut? Start with the grain that gets milled into flour. How likely is it that elsewhere in the Universe there are plants that produce seeds with a carbohydrate energy storage mechanism? How likely is it that intelligent life somewhere other than here has figured out how to mill it? Etc.
I'd go as far as to say that given intelligent life and time, something like dunkin donuts is inevitable.