An astronomer at Columbia University is suggesting that because life emerged so soon on Earth after its formation, it may emerge rapidly on Earth-like planets after the right conditions arise in general.

Prior research has strongly suggested that Earth finished forming approximately 4.5 billion years ago. Life may have appeared on Earth as far back as 4.2 billion years ago, suggesting it may have taken as little as 250 million years for life to arise once conditions were favorable. In his paper, Kipping notes that because the sun ages, it is likely to become unable to support life on Earth in as little as 900 million years.

Thus, if life had taken longer to get started on Earth, it may have been snuffed out before there was time for intelligent beings, such as humans, to evolve. He suggests this has major implications for the search for life on other planets—especially intelligent life.