Evolving Intelligent Life May Not Have Been as Unlikely as Many Scientists Predicted
1 min read
Summary
In a new paper, scientists challenge the idea that humanity’s evolution was an incredibly unlikely phenomenon and that extraterrestrial intelligence is vanishingly rare.
They suggest that it was more probable than previously thought because the evolutionary steps that enabled it were enabled by changes to the Earth, which themselves occurred on geologic timescales.
They also propose a method to test the hypothesis by studying Earth, as well as looking for inhabited planets outside of our solar system.
If their view is correct, they said, “researchers are more likely to find evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence in the future”.
By Daniel Brady Mills, Jason Wright, and Jennifer L. Macalady
