“It is surely unreasonable to credit that only one small star in the immensity of the universe is capable of developing and supporting intelligent life. But we shall not get to them and they will not come to us.”
- P.D. James.
Many people have tried to prove intelligent life exists, and many have failed. Even the slightest proof of said life, would cause a complete uproar. Wars would break out, and our society would crumble. Yes, I encourage people to be open minded, but sometimes there is a line. Like with religion.
It does have good ethics, yes - I agree. But some of their beliefs I cannot comprehend why on Earth they believe it.
One man, Frank Drake came up with a equation, rightly named The Drake Equation. This equation was a complex formula that he predicted could work out how many civilisations are in our galaxy, that could communicate.
One derivation of the formula is: N = N* Fp Ne Fl Fi Fc fL
N = The number of communicating civilisations in the galaxy.
N* = The number of stars in our galaxy.
Fp = Is the fraction of stars that have planets around them.
Ne = number of planets per star, which could 'sustain' life.
Fl = Is the number of planets in which life evolves.
Fi = Is the number of planets which evolve into intelligent life.
Fc = Is the number of planets from the previous that try to communicate.
fL = The hardest one, it is the fraction of the planet's life, which the "communicating civilisations" live.
Lets try it out:
100billion * .50 * 1 * .50 * 0.3 (?) * .50 * (1/100,000,000.) = N
N = ... 37.5!
According to this version of the Drake equation, 37.5 planets in our galaxy are communicating civilisations. Keep in mind though, that the Drake equation is not exact, we can change the variables in it to suit what we think. You can believe it if you want, or you can be more practical - and find the planets.
What if we did communicate with 'them' though? Well truth is, you could only send 3 messages there, and receive 2 back, in your life time that is. This is only for 1 planet, which was named Gliese 581g. Its is a planet found, that may be able to sustain life.
Since nothing can bypass the speed of light (or can they?) it would take 41 (approx.) years to send and receive even the simplest messages. So I don't think we should look forward to having an 'msn' conversation with our good alien friends anytime soon.
To conclude, do you ever look up and think, are we alone? Just think, when you think this someone, something, somewhere may be looking back thinking the same thing - about you. Do you think we are alone? I don't. Only time will tell, and let this great tale unfold.
Thanks for reading, Ben.
One derivation of the formula is: N = N* Fp Ne Fl Fi Fc fL
N = The number of communicating civilisations in the galaxy.
N* = The number of stars in our galaxy.
Fp = Is the fraction of stars that have planets around them.
Ne = number of planets per star, which could 'sustain' life.
Fl = Is the number of planets in which life evolves.
Fi = Is the number of planets which evolve into intelligent life.
Fc = Is the number of planets from the previous that try to communicate.
fL = The hardest one, it is the fraction of the planet's life, which the "communicating civilisations" live.
Lets try it out:
100billion * .50 * 1 * .50 * 0.3 (?) * .50 * (1/100,000,000.) = N
N = ... 37.5!
According to this version of the Drake equation, 37.5 planets in our galaxy are communicating civilisations. Keep in mind though, that the Drake equation is not exact, we can change the variables in it to suit what we think. You can believe it if you want, or you can be more practical - and find the planets.
What if we did communicate with 'them' though? Well truth is, you could only send 3 messages there, and receive 2 back, in your life time that is. This is only for 1 planet, which was named Gliese 581g. Its is a planet found, that may be able to sustain life.
Since nothing can bypass the speed of light (or can they?) it would take 41 (approx.) years to send and receive even the simplest messages. So I don't think we should look forward to having an 'msn' conversation with our good alien friends anytime soon.
To conclude, do you ever look up and think, are we alone? Just think, when you think this someone, something, somewhere may be looking back thinking the same thing - about you. Do you think we are alone? I don't. Only time will tell, and let this great tale unfold.
Thanks for reading, Ben.
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