Atleast 36 intelligent civilizations in our milky way claims study
A study published on Monday in The Astrophysical Journal says that there may be at least 36 active, intelligent and communicative civilizations in our Milky Way. But due to time and distance, we will never know if they ever existed.
Scientists have made calculations based on the Drake equation, written in 1961 by astronomer and astronomer Frank Drake.
The authors wrote in their study that- ‘Drake developed an equation to calculate how many communicating Extra-Terrestrial Intelligent (CETI) civilizations can be in the galaxy. However, many of its definitions are not yet known and other methods should be used to calculate the possible number of civilizations. ‘
That’s why scientists from Nottingham University developed their approach. In an email to CNN, Christopher Conselice, a professor and co-author of astrophysics at the University of Nottingham, said – ‘The key difference between our calculations and the calculations made on the basis of the Drake equation is that we make very simple assumptions about it. Is how life has evolved.
He said- ‘One of them is that life is made in a scientific way – that if the right conditions are there then life will be born. It does not have the difficult question that ‘which part of the planets will form life in the habitable zone of a star?’ And ‘Which part of life will develop into intelligent life?’ The answers to these questions cannot be given until we have truly ascertained life, and we have not done this till now.
These scientists developed the Astrobiological Copernican Principle to establish weak and strong limits on life in the galaxy. According to scientists, these equations reveal the formation of stars in galaxy and their age. It also reveals the metal content of stars and whether celestial bodies can nurture a habitable planet like Earth.
Co-author Tom Westby, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Nottingham, issued a statement saying – ‘Two astronomical Copernican borders will generate life in less than 5 billion years, or about 5 billion years later, just like Earth. Like, where a communication civilization was built after 4.5 billion years.
‘This is called the Astrobiological Copernican Principle because it assumes that our existence is not special. This is the situation that the way intelligent life developed on Earth in our Galaxy, then life will develop elsewhere.’
The authors also state that the average distance of one of these 36 civilizations is about 17,000 light years, so it is impossible to detect and communicate at present.
A more complex question here is how long the life of these civilizations is. Christopher Conselice, professor of astrophysics at the University of Nottingham, who led the research, said- ‘The discovery of extra-terrestrial intelligent civilizations not only shows how life is made, but it also tells us how long our civilization will last ‘.
‘If we come to know that this intelligent life is common, then it will show that our civilization can exist for more than a few hundred years. Alternatively, if we find that there are no active civilizations in our galaxy, then it is a bad sign for our long term survival. ‘