Originally published June 29 2005
Planets with short-lived stars will not have time to develop life
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Professor David Cattling at Bristol University comments that, given the evidence that earth took 4 billion years to evolve, most analysts believe that other planets' windows for developing life depend upon the vitality of the closest star.
This question continues to puzzle scientists, but now Professor David Catling at Bristol University thinks that significant oxygen in the atmosphere and oceans of a distant planet are required for complex organisms to evolve.
The fact that it took almost 4 billion years here on Earth means that other planets might not have a lot of time to evolve complex life.
Since our Sun still has another 4 billion years before it dies, life has time to flourish, but planets around other, more short-lived stars might not be so lucky.
Full Story -NASA Pathfinder mission exploring the surface of Mars.
Recent research argues that an atmosphere rich in oxygen is the most feasible source of energy for complex life to exist anywhere in the Universe, thereby limiting the number of places life may exist.
Professor David Catling at Bristol University, along with colleagues at the University of Washington and NASA, contend that significant oxygen in the air and oceans is essential for the evolution of multicellular organisms, and that on Earth the time required for oxygen levels to reach a point where animals could evolve was almost four billion years.
The research is published in the June 2005 issue of Astrobiology.
Professor Catling is also part of the science team for NASA's Phoenix Lander, which recently got the go-ahead to put a long-armed lander on Mars in 2007.
"A key objective is to establish whether Mars ever had an environment conducive to more simple life", said Professor Catling.
Professor Catling is one of the country's first Professors of Astrobiology and has recently returned from the USA to take up a post at the University of Bristol.
How the complex world around us developed from lifeless beginnings is a great challenge that involves many scientific disciplines such as geology, atmospheric science, and biology".
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