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Language: en
is there anyone out there
hello it's an age-old question do aliens
exist and what are the odds that we will
make contact there's actually a famous
mathematical equation that could
help the Drake equation is used to help
calculate the odds that Advance alien
civilizations exist in our galaxy over
the years scientists have proposed ways
to update it to reflect new discovery
like exoplanets and get closer to
answering the questions are we alone and
will we ever know for
sure so n in the equation stands for a
specific kind of advanced alien
civilization those that have the
technology to produce radio signals
detectable by Earth but there may be
civilizations out there that don't
communicate with radio waves like we do
here on Earth or maybe they are just so
far away that we can't detect their
signals then on the other side of the
equation are all of the ingredients for
advanced civilizations as we understand
them rstar is the average rate that
stars suitable for the development of
intelligent life form in our galaxy and
F subp is the fraction of those stars
that have planets around them this
number has been updated in the last
couple of decades with the discovery of
exoplanets but for now the rest of the
terms are estimates impossible to
measure because we just really don't
know how many other planets have life
let alone intelligent Advanced life so
if most these terms are estimates then
there's no definitive answer to the
Drake equation so why is this equation
useful well because it's a framework we
have to start somewhere it's like a
guideline for researchers to know what
to look for and what to study to find
life beyond Earth but one of the key
pieces scientists really do wrestle with
is the number of planets where life
could become intelligent that's F subi
in the equation and here's why the drag
equation assumes that simple forms of
life like microbes inevitably evolve
into complex and intelligent life but
others think that the jump in evolution
from single cell organisms to
intelligent life is not inevitable and
some even think that an important factor
for how life on Earth evolve to become
intelligent and technologically advanced
might have to do with something you
probably learned about grade school
plate tectonics oceans and continents
they argue that these things are so
important that new terms should be added
to the Drake equation but why what do
plate tectonics have to do with the
evolution of advanced
civilizations today Earth's crust is
made up of massive plates that sit on
top of the hot molten rock mantle but
billions of years ago there was just one
massive plate that broke apart as the
mantle heated and cooled forming
mountains and volcanoes creating diverse
habitats recycling nutrients and
regulating the
climate the movement of these plates is
known as plate tectonics and some
scientists think that complex organisms
on Earth emerged on the ocean floor not
long after plate tectonics started some
researchers think those factors made it
possible for life to evolve from the sea
to the land which was key for
intelligent life developing
technology but at least so far we don't
know of any other planets that have
played tectonics like we have here on
Earth so factoring that into the Drake
equation dramatically lowers the odds of
other Advanced alien civilizations by
that calculation we may be the only
Advanced civilization in the
Galaxy but there's a lot we don't know
about how life evolved to become
intelligent we really only have one
example to study
Earth it may be that there are factors
that we haven't even thought to consider
yet totally unrelated to plate tectonics
and actually that's a limitation of this
whole thought experiment we just can't
account for things we haven't even
thought to
consider but maybe one day the
researchers listening for
extraterrestrials will hear something
and if so hopefully whoever is out there
will live long enough for us to make
contact ever here the FY
Paradox it may be that it takes so long
for any kind of signal to travel to us
or vice versa that the civilization on
the other
end May no longer exist to receive
it you've got and that's l in the Drake
equation the average length of time
civilizations exist to make such
signals so what do you think are we
alone does the Drake equation need a
revision will we ever find the aliens
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