The longevity of habitable planets and the development of intelligent life. Issue 3 (30th August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Simpson, Fergus
• Is Part Of: International journal of astrobiology. Volume 16:Issue 3(2017:Jul.)
• Page Start: 266
• Page End: 270
• Publication Date: 2016-08-30
• Subjects: Bayesian statistics, -- evolution, -- habitable planets, -- intelligent life, -- SETI; Exobiology -- Periodicals; 576.83905
• DOI: 10.1017/S1473550416000306
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1473-5504

Abstract

Abstract: Why did the emergence of our species require a timescale similar to the entire habitable period of our planet? Our late appearance has previously been interpreted by Carter (2008) as evidence that observers typically require a very long development time, implying that intelligent life is a rare occurrence. Here we present an alternative explanation, which simply asserts that many planets possess brief periods of habitability. We also propose that the rate-limiting step for the formation of observers is the enlargement of species from an initially microbial state. In this scenario, the development of intelligent life is a slow but almost inevitable process, greatly enhancing the prospects of future search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI) experiments such as the Breakthrough Listen project.