Origin & Evolution of Life Archives

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Earth Life Appeared on Land 1.5 billion Years Earlier Than Previously Thought

by Keith CowingNovember 29, 2000April 12, 2024

Evidence of life on Earth has been found as far back as 3.8 billion years. Given that the intense bombardment that accompanied the birth of the solar system only subsided […]

Photograph of Carl Sagan standing next to a model of the Viking lander in Death Valley, California. -- NASA

Press Release

Carl Sagan – Galileo Interdisciplinary Scientist (1934 – 1996)

by Keith CowingDecember 20, 1996July 5, 2026

Carl Sagan passed away on December 20, 1996 of pneumonia after a two-year battle with bone marrow disease. He was 62, and will be sorely missed by his friends and […]

Astrobiology (general), Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Policy, Press Release, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, SETI & Technosignatures

Hearing: Possibility Of Intelligent Life Elsewhere In The Universe [1977 Revision]

by Keith CowingOctober 1, 1977June 16, 2026

Prepared for the Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session, by the Science Policy research Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. Full text […]

Astrobiology (general), Book, Film, Video Reviews, Intelligence & Language, Origin & Evolution of Life, People Of Astrobiology, SETI & Technosignatures, Societal Issues, Status Report

Book: Intelligent Life In The Universe by I.S. Shklovskii and Carl Sagan

by Keith CowingNovember 23, 1966May 21, 2025

This book, first published in 1966, is a product of a unique international collaboration between a world famous Russian astronomer and a leading American space scientist, the first popular and […]

Astrobiology (general), Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Mars, NASA Astrobiology Program, Origin & Evolution of Life, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Status Report

Biology And The Exploration Of Mars

by Keith CowingMay 25, 1966June 13, 2026

PREFACE Until recent years the origin of life and its possible occurrence elsewhere in the universe have been matters for speculation only. The rapid growth of molecular biology since 1940 […]