Drake Equation Activity

R = 20 billion
Fp = 75%

Ne = 2

Fl = 40%

Fi = 7%

Fc = 1%

L = .00001

N = 84 apprx

A. 84 civilizations

B. The value doubles, exactly.

C. Doing so reduces the total number by a third.

D. Wouldn't change THAT much.. maybe 1.5 times bigger?

E. Fp = 10%-80% | Ne = 1-8 | Fl =10%-60% | Fi = 1%-15% | Fc = 0.000001% - 3%

F. Min: 2 x 10 ^-6 | Max: 3,456 civilizations

G. The minimum is too small (you can't have a Fraction of a civilization), and the max seems reasonable, considering how many stars are in our galaxy.

H. It depends on what you define "intelligence" as.. if the species can reason, have emotion, and perhaps even have morals, there is really only one we know of.. humans. Yeah, some whale-like animals like dolphins and humbacks can communicate and empathize, but.. they're not considered as humans are? If you define intelligence by the amount of technology a species has, then humans win, with chimpanzees and otters coming in second (by using rocks and twigs to gather food). So, that number would be one, possibly 2 or 3, since we ARE one of those civilizations.

I. 400 was the answer... It's near the low middle of my high/estimated answers, making it also pretty reasonable.

REFLECTION:

The musings about extraterrestrial life are silly to me sometimes... if somebody honestly thinks we're alone in the universe, then it really is a waste of space. : D It's gigantic! There could be things we can't even dream of. Using the drake equation does give us some idea of how many other civilizations could be out there, though, which is nice. The math is simple, the estimates weren't that hard to make, and the end result was close to what scientists think of it as. : )