UFO
In 1961 the astronomer Frank Drake announced that the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy that might contact us could be calculated with the following equation:
N = R fp ne fl fi fc L
Where N is the number of communicative civilizations, R is the rate of formation of suitable stars, fp is the fraction of those stars with planets, ne is the number of Earth-like planets per solar system, fl is the fraction of planets with life, fi is the fraction of planets with intelligent life, fc is the fraction of planets with communicating technology and L is the lifetime of communicating civilizations.
Many people think that this equation actually proves the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence and some even believe that a close encounter of the third kind could be just around the corner. However, the truth of the matter is that there is no scientific evidence to support that intelligent life exists anywhere beyond Earth and the only factor that can be calculated with some certainty in this equation is R the rate of stellar formation (1). Numbers for the other components are the product of the creative speculations of astronomers, SETI researchers and Star Trek fans.
N = R fp ne fl fi fc L
Where N is the number of communicative civilizations, R is the rate of formation of suitable stars, fp is the fraction of those stars with planets, ne is the number of Earth-like planets per solar system, fl is the fraction of planets with life, fi is the fraction of planets with intelligent life, fc is the fraction of planets with communicating technology and L is the lifetime of communicating civilizations.
Many people think that this equation actually proves the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence and some even believe that a close encounter of the third kind could be just around the corner. However, the truth of the matter is that there is no scientific evidence to support that intelligent life exists anywhere beyond Earth and the only factor that can be calculated with some certainty in this equation is R the rate of stellar formation (1). Numbers for the other components are the product of the creative speculations of astronomers, SETI researchers and Star Trek fans.
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