Estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy with the Drake Equation
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What is the Drake Equation?
Frank Drake developed the Drake Equation in 1961. It is away to estimate the number of intelligent, communicating civilizations there are in our galaxy.
Calculating the Drake Equation
N = R fp ne fl fi fc fL
Where:
N = The number of communicative civilizations
R* = The rate of formation of suitable stars (stars such as our Sun) that form in our galaxy per year
fp = The fraction of those stars with planets.
ne = The number of Earth-like planets per planetary system
fl = The fraction of those Earth-like planets where life actually develops
fi = The fraction of life sites where intelligent life develops
fc = The fraction of communicative planets (those on which electromagnetic communications technology develops)
L = The "lifetime" of communicating civilizations
Sample Calculation
R=15
fp=35
ne=10
fl=10
fi=10
fc=10
L=700
We get the number of communicative civilizations (N) = 37.
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The Drake Equation on Wikipedia
The Drake equation (also sometimes called the "Green Bank equation," the "Green Bank Formula" or - erroneously - the "Sagan equation") is an equation to calculate the potential number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our Milky Way galaxy. It is used in the fields of exobiology and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).
This equation was devised by Dr. Frank Drake (now Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz) in 1960, in an attempt to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way (our galaxy) with which we might come into contact.
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- LeslieBrenner LeslieBrenner Mar 15, 2008 @ 6:59 pm
- We may discover life on other planets within our lifetimes! Maybe even within our own solar system--underground on Mars or on one of Jupiter's moons. Hope so.
by debbie1
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