Origins and Evolution of Life in Space and Time

Join Dr. James L. Green as he discusses the origins and evolution of life in space and time. It is estimated that life started on Earth approximately 3.9 billion years ago. However, there are only a few locations on Earth, that old, that have remained undisturbed which would enable our study of the planetary conditions at a time that enabled life to take hold. Although we don't yet know how life got started here, early life forms would not be very complex. By studying the evolution of our own planet and Sun, it may give us some clues as to what to look for life at other locations in our own solar system and in the solar systems of other stars.

Planetary scientists have developed the capability to model how our solar system planets and sun have evolved together since their birth and what may happen to them in the distant future. Comparative planetology tells us that terrestrial planetary atmospheres have been in a process of continual change within an ever changing solar and galactic environment. We are finding some startling parallels that suggest both Venus and Mars had environments that would have been habitable for life in their distant past. New observations in the outer part of our solar system indicate that Europa and Enceladus have an ocean of liquid water beneath their icy crust in contact with mineral-rich rock. These icy moons may have the ingredients needed for life as we know it.

With these discoveries, and many others in mind, we are looking for potentially habitable exoplanets and have made some significant discoveries.

For more information, visit https://kiss.caltech.edu/lectures/202...