Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe

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How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

Simulation of a Space-based Microlensing Survey for Terrestrial Extrasolar Planets (2000, background): “A non-exhaustive list of the potential requirements for habitability include the presence of giant planets in 5-10 AU orbits (Lunine 2001), the presence of a large moon to stabilize the planetary spin axis (Ward 1982), main sequence stellar type of F, G, or K (Ward and Brownlee 2000; Kasting 1997).”
Evolution and Geological Significance of Larger Benthic Foraminifera (2018, background): “A sudden release of huge volumes of carbon dioxide might have poisoned all marine and terrestrial life (Ward and Brownlee, 2000).”
Cultural evolution, the postbiological universe and SETI (2003, background): “Nor does it mean a universe devoid of lower forms of life, what I have called elsewhere ‘ the weak biological universe’ (Dick 2000a), as advocated by Ward & Brownlee (2000).”
Evolution of a habitable planet (2003, background): “This would wreak havoc on Earth’s climate and might make it difficult for such a planet to support land-based life (Ward & Brownlee 2000; but see Williams, Kasting & Caldeira 1996 for factors that might help mitigate this problem).”
Global Catastrophic Risks (2008, background): “It should be emphasized that even the founders of ‘rare Earth’ picture readily admit that simple life forms are ubiquitous throughout the universe (Ward and Brownlee, 2000).”