The great silence: Just 4 in 10k galaxies may host intelligent aliens
A study suggests intelligent alien life may be rare due to specific planetary conditions. Plate tectonics, oceans, and continents play crucial roles. Researchers estimate only 4 in 10,000 galaxies may host intelligent civilizations.
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A study suggests that the evolution of intelligent alien life may be rare in the universe due to the necessity of plate tectonics, oceans, and continents on a planet. Researchers argue that plate tectonics played a crucial role in accelerating the evolution of complex life on Earth. They estimate that only 4 in 10,000 galaxies may host intelligent civilizations due to the rarity of planets with the right conditions. Factors like the presence of oceans, continents, and plate tectonics are essential for the development of intelligent life. The study uses the Drake equation to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations, highlighting the challenges in identifying potential alien life. While the search for intelligent aliens continues, the study emphasizes the importance of preserving our civilization if we are indeed alone in the universe. The research was published in the journal Scientific Reports, raising questions about the uniqueness of Earth's conditions for fostering intelligent life.
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20 commentsThat said, so many of these ‘intelligent life’ things have so many baked in assumptions, I’m constantly frustrated: “Must be water based, since that’s what we know,” “Must communicate via radio like we do in ways that we could recognize”, … The assumptions are legion.
Roll the in the idea we'll communicate with them with messages encoded in radio waves, and they'll understand, and it sounds hopelessly optimistic.
What is lonelier, having no other intelligence for millions of light years, or knowing there's another civilization tantalizingly close, but still far enough to make the possibility of in-person contact daunting under known laws of physics.
"by plugging this value into the Drake equation, Stern and Gerya arrive at a value for the number of extraterrestrial civilizations as somewhere between 0.0004 and 20,000".
EDIT: If we take a number near the middle, say 1, we have ~1 per galaxy. Near the high side, we have ~10k per galaxy.
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