The Drake Equation at 60: Reconsidered and Abandoned
Popular Physics
2021-05-20 v2 Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract
Each of the individual factors of the Drake Equation is considered. Each in turn is either abandoned or redefined and finally reduced to a single new factor, fd, the fraction of technological life that is detectable by any means. However, neither the Drake Equation, nor its replacement, can actually solve for N. Only a vibrant SETI program and, ultimately, contact with an alien civilization might result in the determination of N.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2105.03984,
title = {The Drake Equation at 60: Reconsidered and Abandoned},
author = {John Gertz},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2105.03984},
year = {2021}
}
Comments
27 pages, Accepted for publication to JBIS