Are we alone in the universe? Let alone, in our galaxy? That is a question most of us have asked ourselves, and its answer could result in us feeling rather optimistic or extremely pessimistic.
Although this question seems like one that will always remain a mystery, it hasn’t stopped scientists from trying to figure it out. And they do this using the famous Drake equation (as seen in the image below), which is a way to estimate the number of active extraterrestrial civilizations in the universe.
Now, according to a new paper published in the journal Astrobiology, recent discoveries of exoplanets combined with a broader approach to answering this question has allowed researchers to conclude that, unless the odds of advanced life evolving on a habitable planet are immensely low, then humankind is not the universe’s first technological, or advanced, civilization.
"The question of whether advanced civilizations exist elsewhere in the universe has always been vexed with three large uncertainties in the Drake equation," said Adam Frank, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester and co-author of the paper, in a press release.
For a long time astronomers have known how many stars exist, but they didn’t know how many of those stars had planets that could host life, how often life might evolve and lead to intelligent beings, and how long any civilizations might last before becoming extinct.
"Thanks to NASA's Kepler satellite and other searches, we now know that roughly one-fifth of stars have planets in 'habitable zones,' where temperatures could support life as we know it. So one of the three big uncertainties has now been constrained," explained Frank.
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