> It took hundreds of millions of years, possibly up to a billion years, for basic life to form on Earth. This is a common popular misconception. See something

> It took hundreds of millions of years, possibly up to a billion years, for basic life to form on Earth. This is a common popular misconception. See something like Simon Conway Morris's book Life's Solution. There is evidence that life existed on earth almost as soon (geologically speaking) as the early bombardment stopped repeatedly boiling away the entire oceans and atmosphere, within something like 10-20 million years. Thus, all the interpretation about the implications of that.