Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com – One of the biggest and longest-standing questions in the history of human thought is whether there are other intelligent life forms within our Universe. Obtaining good estimates of the number of possible extraterrestrial civilizations has however been very challenging.
Now, a new study led by the University of Nottingham and published today in The Astrophysical Journal has taken a new approach to this problem.
Astronomers calculated that there could be over 30 active communicating intelligent civilizations in our home Galaxy.
“There should be at least a few dozen active civilizations in our Galaxy under the assumption that it takes 5 billion years for intelligent life to form on other planets, as on Earth,” explains Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Nottingham, Christopher Conselice, adding that the idea is looking at evolution, but on a cosmic scale. We call this calculation the Astrobiological Copernican Limit.”
The research shows that the number of civilizations depends strongly on how long they are actively sending out signals of their existence into space, such as radio transmissions from satellites, television, etc. If other technological civilizations last as long as ours which is currently 100 years old, then there will be about 36 ongoing intelligent technical civilizations throughout our Galaxy.
However, the average distance to these civilizations would be 17,000 light-years away, making detection and communication very difficult with our present technology. It is also possible that we are the only civilization within our Galaxy unless the survival times of civilizations like our own are long.
Professor Conselice continues: “Our new research suggests that searches for extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations not only reveals the existence of how life forms, but also gives us clues for how long our own civilization will last. If we find that intelligent life is common then this would reveal that our civilization could exist for much longer than a few hundred years, alternatively if we find that there are no active civilizations in our Galaxy it is a bad sign for our own long-term existence.
By searching for extraterrestrial intelligent life — even if we find nothing — we are discovering our own future and fate.”
Written by Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com Staff