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 - A new study shows that Earth's core formed in the presence of more oxidizing conditions than previously thought. The study is helping scientists understand the distribution of planet-forming materials in the early Solar System. See article.
g Life - A new study shows that multicellular cyanobacteria arose much earlier than previously believed. Multicellularity developed in cyanobacteria at almost the same time as the oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere, and around one billion years earlier than eukaryotes. See article.
g Intelligence - Microbes on Mars might be impressive, but the average Earthling would really be wowed by news of a full-blown, advanced civilization on a planet beyond our own. What’s the likelihood that such a civilization exists in our galaxy? Explore the arguments over whether ET is out there, capable of phoning home. 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.