New Study Suggests Intelligent Life May Be a Natural Outcome of Planetary Evolution

Researchers challenge the 'hard steps' theory, proposing that human-like evolution is guided by planetary conditions rather than rare evolutionary events.

The study argues that intelligent life could arise predictably under favorable planetary conditions, rather than being a rare fluke.
Researchers propose 'windows of habitability,' periods of environmental change that make planets conducive to complex life development.
Key factors such as oxygenation, ocean salinity, and nutrient availability on Earth played critical roles in enabling life to evolve systematically.
The findings challenge the 1983 'hard steps' model, which suggested that complex life required a series of highly improbable events.
Future research will focus on testing these ideas by analyzing biosignatures in exoplanet atmospheres and replicating evolutionary conditions in experiments.