Are We Alone? Galactic Civilization Challenge

The Drake Equation tells us the likelihood that there are other advanced technological civilizations waiting for us among the stars. In this episode of Space Time we challenge you to use the Drake Equation to help us determine how near or far these alien races may be. Links to reference material below.

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Everything we’ve learned about our universe tells us that it is very unlikely we are alone. Frank Drake and his Drake Equation compute exactly how unlikely this is. The answer may surprise you.

Written and hosted by Matt O’Dowd
Produced by Rusty Ward
Made by Kornhaber Brown (www.kornhaberbrown.com)

A New Empirical Constraint on the Prevalence of Technological Species in the Universe
Adam Frank & W.T. Sullivan III
https://arxiv.org/abs/1510.08837

The Drake Equation
http://www.seti.org/drakeequation

G-type stars within 100 light years
http://www.solstation.com/stars3/100-gs.htm

Prevalence of Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like stars
Erik A. Petigura, Andrew W. Howard, Geoffrey W. Marcy
https://arxiv.org/abs/1311.6806

The Kepler Sample
http://kepler.nasa.gov/science/about/targetFieldOfView/

Planet Hunters X. KIC 8462852 – Where’s the Flux?
Tabby. S. Boyajian, et al.
https://arxiv.org/abs/1509.03622