Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:g Abodes - Astronomers have discovered the element potassium in the atmosphere of a planet about 190 light years from Earth. Identifying elements necessary for life in the atmospheres of exoplanets could one day help astrobiologists identify habitable worlds beyond our solar system. See article.
g Message - In 1960 an inquisitive astronomer named Frank Drake aimed a radio telescope at a couple of nearby stars and started listening. Nearly 50 years later we’re still listening, and SETI—the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence—has just expanded to begin the systematic survey of millions of star systems for signs of advanced civilizations. The Allen Telescope will eventually comprise 350 dish antennas, all working in unison to answer the question: Are we alone? See article.
g Cosmicus - Propelled by sunlight pressure, large lightweight sails made of ultrathin aluminum-coated plastic could one day take probes to the edge of our solar system and other stars. See article.
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The Drake Equation
This formula estimates the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy.N=(R*)(Ns)(Fp)(Ne)(Fl)(Fi)(Fc)(L)
Where:- N = Number of civilizations we can communicate with
- R* = Average star formation rate
- Ns = Percentage of stars capable of supporting earth-like planets
- Fp = Percentage of those stars with planets
- Ne = Average umber of planets in those stars' habitable zones
- Fl = Percentage of those planets where life begins
- Fi = Percentage of planets with life where an intelligent species evolves
- Fc = Percentage of those intelligent species that develop communication technology
- L = Average lifetime, in years, of a civilization that develops such technology
About Me
- Rob Bignell
- I'm the owner and chief editor at Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the editing and proofreading needs of writers both new and published. For more than two decades, I worked as an award-winning journalist, with half of those years spent as an editor. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres have been published, and I am the author of the nonfiction “Hikes with Tykes” series, a novel "Windmill", and a collection of poetry, "Love Letters to Sophie's Mom". For seven years I worked as an English teacher or a community college journalism instructor. I hold a master's degree in English and a bachelor's in journalism and English.