For a while here I've seen a lot of posts about how amazing the Earth is, and what an extremely small probability it is for us to exist here.
Well have any of you even heard of the Drake Equation? The Drake Equation
IS the probability of us existing here, and we can use it to further estimate how many intelligent civilizations there are per galaxy. Multiply that by the hundred of billions of galaxies in our universe, and we find that we really aren't alone
Quote:
<dl><dd>N is the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which we might hope to be able to communicate;</dd></dl> and
<dl><dd>R<sup>*</sup> is the average rate of star formation in our galaxy</dd><dd>f<sub>p</sub> is the fraction of those stars that have planets</dd><dd>n<sub>e</sub> is the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets</dd><dd>f<sub>ℓ</sub> is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point</dd><dd>f<sub>i</sub> is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life</dd><dd>f<sub>c</sub> is the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space</dd><dd>L is the length of time such civilizations release detectable signals into space.</dd></dl>
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I mean from even moderate analysis and estimates we find that there may be as many 2-3 intelligent civilizations in each galaxy, thats a staggering number for the entire universe.
http://frombob.to/drake.html
We just aren't that special.