Warmer climates than Earth’s could accelerate life’s development, potentially increasing the number of planets with more ...

But what is the science behind extraterrestrial life? Is it possible that humans will ever experience "first contact" with an ...

Intelligent life may develop on planets as a rule, not an exception — increasing the odds of humanity existing beyond Earth, according to a new study. Researchers from Penn State University ...

For decades, many scientists have relied on the "hard steps" model to suggest that intelligent life is rare — the improbable result ... astronomical odds but is a predictable result of how planets ...

With the hard steps theory, Carter argued that Earth got exceptionally lucky—ordinarily, he figured, intelligent life would take so long to develop on a planet that its host star would burn out ...

While researchers are still debating the exact timeline, one thing is becoming clear. Life didn’t take long to get started.

Rather than basing their study on the sun’s lifespan, the researchers say our origins—and that of other intelligent life in the universe—could have been a natural outcome of our planet’s ...

In fact, the life that could be – emphasis on the could be – thriving on a distant ocean-covered planet named K2-18b is likely not intelligent at all. But that doesn't make the recent ...

fl = the fraction of planets where any life emerges fi = the fraction of planets with life that develops intelligent life / civilizations fc = the fraction of civilizations with technology to emit ...

He suggests this has major implications for the search for life on other planets—especially intelligent life. If Earth can serve as proof that life can arise quickly once conditions are ripe ...

All this happened about 4.5 billion years after Earth formed, with innumerable steps occurring in between that made our planet a cradle for intelligent life. An influential scientific thesis ...