tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6499281145787239492011-09-13T01:38:27.903-07:00NikkiNebulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045955797861205162noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-649928114578723949.post-21047420615395499092011-09-13T01:16:00.000-07:002011-09-13T01:17:06.584-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>The Drake Equation states that:</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/4/a/c/4ac1a1c3e0f903e8ed70359a4bb99466.png" /></i></div><i><br /></i><br /><i>where:</i><br /><dl><dd><i>N = the number of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization" title="Civilization">civilizations</a> in our galaxy with which communication might be possible;</i></dd></dl><i>and</i><br /><dl><dd><i>R^* = the average rate of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star" title="Star">star</a> formation per year in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way" title="Milky Way">our galaxy</a></i></dd><dd><i>f_p = the fraction of those stars that have <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet" title="Planet">planets</a></i></dd><dd><i>n_e = the average number of planets that can potentially support <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life" title="Life">life</a> per star that has planets</i></dd><dd><i>f_ℓ = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point</i></dd><dd><i>f_i = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence" title="Intelligence">intelligent</a> life</i></dd><dd><i>f_c = the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space</i></dd><dd><i>L = the length of time for which such civilizations release detectable signals into space.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation#cite_note-2">[3]</a></sup></i></dd></dl><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/649928114578723949-2104742061539549909?l=wentworthwatch.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>NikkiNebulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045955797861205162noreply@blogger.com0