Does the rapid appearance of life on Earth suggest that life is common in the universe?

被引：49
作者：
Lineweaver, CH [1 ]
Davis, TM
机构：
[1] Univ New S Wales, Sch Phys, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
[2] Macquarie Univ, Australian Ctr Astrobiol, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
来源：
ASTROBIOLOGY | 2002年 / 2卷 / 03期
关键词：
biogenesis; Drake Equation;
D O I：
10.1089/153110702762027871
中图分类号：
P1 [天文学];
学科分类号：
0704 ;
摘要：
It is sometimes assumed that the rapidity of biogenesis on Earth suggests that life is common in the Universe. Here we critically examine the assumptions inherent in this if-life-evolved-rapidly-life-must-be-common argument. We use the observational constraints on the rapidity of biogenesis on Earth to infer the probability of biogenesis on terrestrial planets with the same unknown probability of biogenesis as the Earth. We find that on such planets, older than similar to1 Gyr, the probability of biogenesis is >13% at the 95% confidence level. This quantifies an important term in the Drake Equation but does not necessarily mean that life is common in the Universe.
引用
收藏
页码：293 / 304
页数：12
相关论文
共 39 条
  • [1] THE AGE OF THE EARTH
    ALLEGRE, CJ
    MANHES, G
    GOPEL, C
    [J]. GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA, 1995, 59 (08) : 1445 - 1456
  • [2] THE LIFE-SPAN OF THE BIOSPHERE REVISITED
    CALDEIRA, K
    KASTING, JF
    [J]. NATURE, 1992, 360 (6406) : 721 - 723
  • [3] Origin of the Moon in a giant impact near the end of the Earth's formation
    Canup, RM
    Asphaug, E
    [J]. NATURE, 2001, 412 (6848) : 708 - 712
  • [4] THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
    CARTER, B
    [J]. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES, 1983, 310 (1512): : 347 - 363
  • [5] CHARNLEY SB, 2002, IN PRESS ADV SPACE R
  • [6] Cronin J R, 1989, Adv Space Res, V9, P59, DOI 10.1016/0273-1177(89)90364-5
  • [7] DICKE SJ, 1998, LIFE OTHER WORLDS 20, P217
  • [8] Disappearance of stellar debris disks around main-sequence stars after 400 million years
    Habing, HJ
    Dominik, C
    de Mulzon, MJ
    Kessler, MF
    Laureijs, RJ
    Leech, K
    Metcalfe, L
    Salama, A
    Slebenmorgen, R
    Trams, N
    [J]. NATURE, 1999, 401 (6752) : 456 - 458
  • [9] Terrestrial accretion rates and the origin of the Moon
    Halliday, AN
    [J]. EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS, 2000, 176 (01) : 17 - 30
  • [10] Earth science - In the beginning ...
    Halliday, AN
    [J]. NATURE, 2001, 409 (6817) : 144 - 145
1234