George Dvorsky
GizmodoAn adjustment to the famous Drake Equation could radically refine estimates of intelligent civilizations in our Galaxy
Astronomer Frank Drake formulated his influential equation in 1961 to estimate the number of civilizations in the Milky Way capable of communicating with us. Our understanding of planetary science has changed a lot since then, leading a team of scientists to propose a pair of important adjustments that produce an answer that could explain the Great Silence.
Despite its popularity and intuitiveness, the Drake Equation has faced criticism over the years for its broad assumptions and ambiguous parameters; it often results in an overly optimistic estimate for the value of N—the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which we might be able to communicate. This tends to feed a conundrum known as the Fermi Paradox: If intelligent life is common, why haven’t we found any evidence of it? New research published in Scientific Reports offers a potential fix via the addition of two new factors.
Planetary scientists Robert Stern from the University of Texas at Dallas and Taras Gerya from ETH-Zurich, the two co-authors on the study, suggest that the presence of both continents and oceans, along with long-term plate tectonics, is critical for the emergence of advanced civilizations. They consequently propose the addition of two factors into the equation: the fraction of habitable planets with significant continents and oceans and the fraction of those planets with plate tectonics operating for at least 500 million years. This adjustment, however, significantly reduces the value of N in the Drake Equation. ... Full Article
60 Advanced Alien Civilizations May Exist In Our Galaxy, Scientists Say
Are there advanced alien “supercivilizations” lurking in our galaxy? If there are, they may use massive megastructures, such as a “Dyson sphere,” to harvest solar energy directly from a star. As first reported in the New Scientist, a recent study of millions of stars revealed 60 that displayed an excess of infrared heat—a characteristic of blocking a star's light. ... Read More
Radio Signals from Space
40 years after the WOW signal SETI detected 15 fast radio bursters. Fast radio bursters have been deteted before but as singular one time events from scattered locations. FRB 121102 has erupted at least 15 times. The repetitious bursts are viewed by some as a sign of intelligent design. FRB 121102 is in a small galaxy long ago and far away. Far away as in 3 billion light-years away and long ago in that the radio bursts initiated when single celled life forms were just beggnning to evolve here on Earth. The most titillating notion regarding these Fast Radio Bursts invokes the theory that they are from an advanced intelligence . ... Read More
Space Laser Transmission Strikes Earth from 140 million miles away: NASA
Earth just received a laser transmission from a world- (and perhaps universe-) record-breaking 140 million miles away — which could have major implications for the future of space travel. - Read More