One of the biggest existential mysteries – and the most difficult to answer – is whether Earth is all alone in this Universe in bearing a solitary candle of intelligent life in the darkness.
Based on what we have observed, it seems like we're unique. But there are a number of possible reasons why we haven't detected the light of alien civilization elsewhere in the Milky Way, and a number of factors that could be influencing whether or not it emerges.
A little over half a century ago, these variables were assembled into a tool known as the Drake Equation, allowing scientists to fiddle and ponder.
But one variable has been missing from the Drake Equation, which a team led by physicist Daniele Sorini of Durham University in the UK has included as the basis of a new calculation: the effect of dark energy on the rate of star formation in the Universe.
"Understanding dark energy and the impact on our Universe is one of the biggest challenges in cosmology and fundamental physics," Sorini explains. "The parameters that govern our Universe, including the density of dark energy, could explain our own existence."
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