Our galaxy could house 36 extraterrestrial civilizations whose sufficiently developed intelligence would make communication with other worlds possible. Astrophysicists explain that they used a new calculation method to arrive at this estimate. Since 1961 and the equation created by astronomer Frank Drake, seven criteria were taken into account in the evaluation of the number of peoples capable of trade through the Milky Way, explains The Guardian .
Experts from the University of Nottingham (United Kingdom) report in a study published this Monday in The Astrophysical Journal to have refined the calculation process. To do this, they used data and hypotheses unavailable in the 1960s. “Basically, we assumed that a form of intelligent life could appear on other planets in the same way that it appeared on the planet. Earth ”, summarizes Christopher Conselice, co-author of the study. "So over a period of several billion years, natural evolution wants life to automatically appear."
Creatures close to Earthlings
The number 36 comes from a scientific refinement of the initial range, which estimated that between 4 and 211 civilizations were likely to communicate. The calculations of British astrophysicists go even further. Their projections make them say, for example, that a possible contact of an extraterrestrial civilization with humans cannot occur before at least 6,120 years.
The closest of these worlds would indeed be 17,000 light years from our planet. The authors of the scientific work also have an opinion on the way of life of these communicating creatures from another planet in the Milky Way. The latter would thus have points in common with the existence of Earthlings. "We wouldn't be incredibly shocked to find them," says Christopher Conselice.
Planet
Pyrenees: A photographer captures a racing car, a rare and magnificent meteor
High-Tech
China in search of intelligent life forms in space
- Extraterrestrial
- Galaxy
- Sciences
- Spain