New calculations point out that there are at least 36 Contact-capable extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy!

As reported by the tabloid The Guardian, new calculations present estimates for civilizations from other Worlds capable of communicating with each other. In fact according to research and calculations made by astrophysicists today there may be more than 30 intelligent civilizations in our galaxy capable of communicating with other planets.

In 1961 astronomer Frank Drake proposed what became known as the Drake equation, laying out seven factors that should be known to provide an estimate of the number of intelligent civilizations “out there”.

These factors range from the average number of stars that form each year in the galaxy to the time a civilization sends out detectable signals. But some of the factors are measurable.

Drake equation estimates range from zero to a few billion civilizations. It is more of a tool for thinking about issues than something that has actually been resolved,” said Christopher Conselice professor of astrophysics at the University of Nottingham and co-author of the new research.

Prof. Conselice and his colleagues report in the Astrophysical Journal how they refined the equation with new data and hypotheses to present their estimates. “We basically assumed that intelligent life would form on other Earth-like planets like here. In other words, in a few billion years, life would automatically form as a natural part of evolution,” the astronomer said.

Experts say the new work not only offers insights into the possibilities for life beyond Earth, but could also shed light on our future and so look to the cosmos. “I think it’s extremely important and exciting because for the first time we really have an estimate of the number of intelligent, communication-active civilizations that we could come in contact with and discover that there’s more life in the universe,” he said. scientist.

Prof. Conselice added that although it is a speculative theory he believes that alien life would have similarities to life on Earth even with respect to civilizations more advanced than ours.
Under the narrowest set of assumptions that, as on Earth, life forms would have arisen between 4.5 and 5.5 billion years after the formation of their stars, there are probably between four and 211 civilizations in the Via Lattea today capable of communicate with others, 36 is a more likely number, but there are certainly many more.

But Conselice noted that this is a conservative estimate, mainly because it is based on how long our own civilization has been sending signals into space in a period of just 100 years.

The team adds that our civilization would need to survive at least another 6,120 years to establish two-way communication. “They would be very far away… 17,000 light-years is our calculation to the closest,” Conselice said. “If we find the closest things… it would mean that the life span of civilizations is over 100 or a few hundred years. This would indicate that an intelligent civilization can last for thousands or millions of years. The closer we find it, the better the long-term survival of our own civilization will be,” the scientist said.

Professor Andrew Coates of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory. at University College London he said the assumptions made by Conselice and his colleagues are reasonable, but for now the quest for life is likely to take place closer to home.

“It’s an interesting result but it will be impossible to test with current techniques,” he said. “Meanwhile, research into whether we are alone in the universe will include visits to likely objects in our solar system, for example with our Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars, and future missions to Jupiter and Saturn’s moons Europa, ‘Enceladus and Titan. . It is a fascinating time in search of life elsewhere,” concluded Coates.