Drake Theory

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The Drake Theory... The idea behind the drake theory is to calculate the number of planets in our universe that will develop intelligent life. N=R*f p *n e *f l *f i *f c *L N=Number of total species which could be sufficiently advanced to communicate with us. R=Average rate of star formation. fp=Fraction of those stars which have planets orbiting them. ne=Number of planets that can (potentially) support life, per star that has planets (average number). fL=fraction of planets that actually develop life. fi=Fraction of planets that develop life that develop intelligent life. fc=The fraction of communicative planets. L=Length of time required for them to do so. The obvious problem with this equation is the broadness of some of the variables. For example, some of the variables require actual data to be taken. This presents a problem, as we have nowhere to take data from. Fraction of communicative planets is one of these. Obviously, we don’t know of any communicative planets in our galaxy. The result of this is needing to estimate these numbers that we have no actual data for. Kyler Ross Connor Fallon Brandon Carpenter The theory was developed by Frank Drake in 1961. At current estimates, the number of civilizations that should be able to communicate with us in some way, is 10,000.

Transcript of Drake Theory

Page 1: Drake Theory

The Drake Theory...

The idea behind the drake theory is to calculate the number of planets in our universe that will develop intelligent life.

N=R*fp*ne*fl*fi*fc*L

N=Number of total species which could be sufficiently advanced to communicate with us. R=Average rate of star formation. fp=Fraction of those stars which have planets orbiting them. ne=Number of planets that can (potentially) support life, per star that has planets (average number). fL=fraction of planets that actually develop life. fi=Fraction of planets that develop life that develop intelligent life. fc=The fraction of communicative planets. L=Length of time required for them to do so.

The obvious problem with this equation is the broadness of some of the variables. For example, some of the variables require actual data to be taken. This presents a problem, as we have nowhere to take data from. Fraction of communicative planets is one of these. Obviously, we don’t know of any communicative planets in our galaxy. The result of this is needing to estimate these numbers that we have no actual data for.

Kyler RossConnor FallonBrandon Carpenter

The theory was developed by Frank Drake in 1961. At current estimates, the number of civilizations that should be able to communicate with us in some way, is 10,000.