I am up to 517 data units on my SETI at Home...
Still find myself staring at the screen hoping that maybe someday... something....
ping
I do SETI with a radio telescope.
great post! bump!
Some of us are still searching for intelligent life on this planet.
One problem with such an estimation is that it depends on alien civilizations using radio waves instead of gravity waves for communication.
If our current level of science is wrong, and if gravity propagation is actually faster than radio waves, then advanced civilizations may not be using radio at all, except for a brief period early in their development.
And that would explain why we haven't detected *any* off-planet life after all of these years of looking and listening. We've been looking at light and listening to radio; they've been chatting with Gravity.
5 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires
Everyone knows first contact doesn't occur until 2063...
My WAG is that the number of intelligent civilizations in the Milky Way is >1 and <<100; therefore we are effectively alone.
--Boris
No, all wrong. First contact will not occur until 1947, sometime around July. Scoop! Scoop!
What would be the point of making such a prediction?
Johny come very lately, imho.
Already happened.
That means I MIGHT live to see it. I am tearing up.
Oh, wow. I was invited to this dinner. Too bad I didn't go.
In 1960, Drake organizes the first SETI conference, and came up with the now-famous Drake equation: N=N*fp ne fl fi fc fL
[where N is the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy; fp is the fraction with planets; ne is the number of planets per star capable of supporting life; fl is the fraction of planets where life evolves; fi is the fraction where intelligent life evolves; and fc is the fraction that communicates; and fL is the fraction of the planet's life during which the communicating civilizations live.]This serious-looking equation gave SETI a serious footing as a legitimate intellectual inquiry. The problem, of course, is that none of the terms can be known, and most cannot even be estimated. The only way to work the equation is to fill in with guesses. And guesses-just so we're clear-are merely expressions of prejudice.
Nor can there be "informed guesses." If you need to state how many planets with life choose to communicate, there is simply no way to make an informed guess. It's simply prejudice.
As a result, the Drake equation can have any value from "billions and billions" to zero. An expression that can mean anything means nothing. Speaking precisely, the Drake equation is literally meaningless, and has nothing to do with science. I take the hard view that science involves the creation of testable hypotheses. The Drake equation cannot be tested and therefore SETI is not science. SETI is unquestionably a religion.
I kind of doubt there is any intelligent life out there -- the odds are against it
Doesn't this guy know that Eisenhower met with space aliens back in the 50's, and they gave us the technology for the transistor, gravity propulsion systems, and velcro? Seesh!
This serious-looking equation gave SETI an serious footing as a legitimate intellectual inquiry. The problem, of course, is that none of the terms can be known, and most cannot even be estimated. The only way to work the equation is to fill in with guesses. And guesses-just so we're clear-are merely expressions of prejudice.