Emily Hellthaler
FYS-1000
December 17, 2014
Drake Equation Are we alone in the Universe? This has been the big question all semester. We know that life can develop in the universe because of our presence here, but there is no simple definition of life. There is an essential characteristic of life and that is the ability to reproduce. Dr. Frank Drake developed the SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence). Drake believed if extraterrestrial civilization were going to communicate with us, this would be the signal. Not every star is home to an intelligent, communicative civilization, but what keeps SETI going is the idea that perhaps some solar star is. To guide the SETI, the drake equation was established. (N=R*fp ne fl fi L) It is an
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This symbol represents how many planets per star system exist in the habitable zone. Roughly, I think it is about 0.22. The habitable zone is an area where the temperature is just right for liquid water to exist. Water is a key essential for intelligent life and in order for intelligent life to exist, there has to be liquid water. In the mission Kepler, Kepler has actually found 603 planets, 10 of which are Earth size and orbit in the habitable zone, where conditions permit water. In an activity we conducted in class, we were on the hunt for Earth-like exoplanet. In order to figure out which planets are Earth-like we had to follow certain descriptions. For orbital parameters there was Msin(i) [mearth], semi-major axis [au], orbital period, and orbital eccentricity. Msin(i) means finding the minimum mass of the planet. Semi-Major Axis [au] means figuring out the radius of the planets orbit in astronomical units. Orbital period is the time it takes the planet to orbit its star in Earth days and orbital eccentricity shows us how elliptical the orbit is by the variation between 0 and 1. A perfectly circular orbit has an eccentricity of 0, and the more oval or stretched out the orbit is, the closer the eccentricity is to 1. We also had to use stellar properties; these properties included mass of star [msun] and radius of star [rsun]. Mass of star is comparing the mass of the star to the mass of our Sun. A value of 1 means it is the same mass of our …show more content…
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THE GOLDEN RECORD. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2014, from http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/goldenrec.html
Voyager - The Interstellar Mission. (n.d.). Retrieved December 16, 2014, from http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov
Handouts
• Life in the Universe- lab
• The hunt for an Earth-Like Exoplanet
• The Drake Equation: Estimating the Number of Civilizations in the Milky
In the story, “The Cold Equations”, by Tom Godwin the author portrays Man vs Law by showing us that the main character, an EDS pilot, was forced to kill an innocent 18-year-old because she was putting too much weight on the ship and it was the law.
This was created by Annie Cannon; it is a spectra the classifies stars from hottest to coolest. These colors are O’s that are cool, H-R are bluer, M’s are red. These letter correspond with the temperature of the stars.
Who was Sir Francis Drake? Sir Francis Drake was an English sea captain, slave trader, and a privateer of the Elizabethan. Drake played major roles in battles like the Rathlin Island Massacre and many others in which will be said later in my report. He carried out the second circumnavigation on a single expedition and claimed what is now California. Drake’s nickname was El Draque which in latin means “The dragon”. Lastly, the base of his operations was the Caribbean sea. This is who I am going to do my report on.
Francis Drake, born around 1540 in England, was sailing to sell his captives but was attacked and came back with only two ships and a need for revenge (Perry 293). Drake decided that he should work with the queen on taking land and sea control from Spain to fulfil his goal Perry 293). In 1572, Drake took 30 tons of silver from Nombre de Dios, and in 1577 he attacked the Spanish in Chile and Perry while, circumnavigating the earth (Perry 293). During this trip, he collected spices in the Philippines and claimed land for the queen which he called New Albion, San Francisco (“Francis Drake”). Drake was now the mayor of Plymouth, a member of the Parliament, got knighted by the queen, and the Vice Admiral of the Fleet (Perry 293). His last voyage
Over a 1950 summer lunch at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the great physicist Enrico Fermi asked his colleagues an unexpected question – “Don’t you ever wonder where everybody is?” Laughter went around the table as everyone immediately knew that he was talking about extraterrestrial intelligence [1]. If life arises fairly commonly, as Fermi believed, it follows that there should be advanced civilizations with the desire to visit and colonize Earth close enough to do so. However, there is no incontrovertible evidence of aliens on Earth, either now or in the past. This is called the Fermi Paradox. The lack of observational evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence is known as the ‘Great Silence.’[13]
It is commonly accepted that the possibility of aliens existing is feasible, among the scientific community. Drake’s Equation and The Fermi Paradox are two well-known products of humanities’ view towards extraterrestrial life. Drake’s Equation is an equation written by Dr. Frank Drake to determine the odds of intelligent life and to figure out the number of civilizations in the Milky Way that seek to communicate with each other (Howell). The Fermi Paradox is the contradiction between there being a high probability of alien life and it’s the lack of contact with Earth (Krauthammer). The existence of aliens poses many questions for the future of the human race. The questions of where, what, and why are the foremost concerns posed when describing
Imagine that out of the infinite stars and planets in the vast universe, only one solitary planet can sustain life. Heavily disputed arguments have arisen about whether humans are the sole intelligent beings in the universe. Scientists continuously search for the answer, but the search has not as yet yielded positive results. Billions of dollars have been spent in research, causing controversy about whether scientists should invest in the hunt for extraterrestrial beings. Due to inadequate technology, humans cannot currently identify whether extraterrestrial life exists, leading to arguments that scientists should refrain from searching for them.
The existence of life – Aliens, beyond our planet has been a controversial topic for several centuries, and is a debatable issue even today in the 21st century. What is our topic you may ask? Aliens, Do, Exist. According to theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking, it would be improbable for life not to exist somewhere other than Earth. This is a bold claim, but there is evidence to support this statement. The evidence we seek is in the many Alien occurrences we have experienced throughout human history.
A question many ask is, “are we alone in this universe?” Formulas, like The Drake Equation, and arguments, like the Fermi’s paradox, have been proposed help use deduce whether our universe is a biological one. The Drake Equation puts forth high probabilities of extraterrestrial life. However, there are skeptics who believe there is only one planet where life can exist, and this planet is the one that discover us. Whether or not life outside of Earth exist, the exploration of the biological universe is beneficial to humanity’s understanding of our place in the universe.
Throughout Drake’s musical career, the theme he raps about the most is the male/female relationship. As I referenced it before the relationship between men and women is one of the pillars of rap. His most commercially successful and loved songs are about the relationships he’s had with a woman. Instead of talking about selling drugs or violent lyrics, Drake raps about his love of women and the relationships he has with him. He talks about the mistakes he’s made in the relationship one song in particular “Sooner than Later” he talks about how he has this girl he loves but let’s her get away from him and doesn’t realize it until she’s gone when he raps, “I forgot to call on your birthday/ You swear you’re the last thing on my mind, yeah/ There
An underlying theme present throughout the series is the possibility that our existence is not the only one. According to current theories in physics, it is entirely possible that our universe is just one of many universes f...
Many people who live on Earth are close minded to what is really out there in the universe. They cannot even begin to fathom the vastness of it and how Earth is just a tiny little speck compared to everything else out there. From the planets to the stars and out towards the edge of the unknown, we can only see what science provides us with. From this, we know that we are nothing but a tiny planet located in a solar system of millions in a galaxy of many more in the universe.
Are we alone in the universe? Is anything or anybody out there? These are age old questions, asked from people of all ages and races. But the first questions we need to ask are if it is even possible? Are there any other planets out there that are habitable? What does a planet need to be habitable? Without a habitable planet life cannot sustain in the universe, the search for life in the universe has been long and hard with no results proving life to exist outside of earth. The most predominant searchers of those at the SETI Institute or Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Institute, a privately funded organization, that uses various methods to search for electromagnetic transmissions, the assumed method of contact, from distant planets. With information about planets habitability and possibly locations in space SETI would be greatly benefitted; they are challenged now by searching for transmissions without any knowledge of direction, spectrum, or method of use (SETI). If possible directions were known one less assumption would have to be made and we could one step closer to finding life in the universe.
In conclusion, numerous examples have been provided to prove the fact that we are not alone and that extraterrestrial life exists in our Universe. The Roswell Incident, the Sumerians, and scientific knowledge have all attributed to this fact. Although we have not discovered definitive proof of extraterrestrial life, science has speculated that over the course of the next ten years, we will have made contact with alien life. We will no longer be alone on this earth, the real question however, is what do you believe?
One of the most common unanswered questions scientists find themselves asking is "Is there life on other planets?" Since the first famously documented UFO sighting in 1947, the idea of extra-terrestrial life has been debated almost non-stop. The subject has inspired many TV programs, such as The X-Files, and films (Mars Attacks, Independence Day, and the Men in Black films to name but a few). Scientists have come up with many new ideas and ways of trying to either prove or disprove the existence of life elsewhere.