New research shows that life probably arose on Earth almost four billion years ago, at a time when the planet's surface was pounded by huge waves and tides, and periodically devastated by volcanic eruptions. Join the authors of "Spark of Life", UCSD's Jeffrey Bada and Christopher Wills, as they describe the steps by which living organisms may have first appeared, and how right from the beginning, the forces of evolution were at work. (#5268)