| Drake’s
equation and the chance of finding extra-terrestrial life… |
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| Scientists
have been sending radio signals out into the universe for years now,
in the hope of getting a response from an intelligent life-form. What
are the chances of ever finding intelligent life? Believe it or not,
there’s an equation which can help you calculate that chance.
It’s called Drake’s equation, and it looks like this: |
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| N
= R* x fp x ne x f1 x fi
x fc x L |
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|
R* = the number
of stars in the Milky Way galaxy
fp = the fraction of those stars that have planets
ne = the number of planets capable of supporting life
f1 = the fraction of planets suitable for life on which
life actually arises
fi = the fraction of planets where intelligent life
evolves
fc = the fraction of planets with intelligent life
which develops a technically advanced civilisation
L = the fraction of time which a technical civilisation lasts
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Drake’s
equation allows you to estimate the number of civilisations in our
galaxy (The Milky Way) which might be capable of interstellar radio
communication.
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