The Drake Theory...

The idea behind the drake theory

is to calculate the number of
planets in our universe that
will develop intelligent life.

N=R*fp*ne*fl*fi*fc*L
N=Number of total species which could be sufficiently advanced to
communicate with us.
R=Average rate of star formation.
fp=Fraction of those stars which have planets orbiting them.
ne=Number of planets that can (potentially) support life, per star
that has planets (average number).
fL=fraction of planets that actually develop life.
fi=Fraction of planets that develop life that develop intelligent
life.
fc=The fraction of communicative planets.
L=Length of time required for them to do so.

The obvious problem with this equation is the broadness of some of

the variables. For example, some of the variables require actual
data to be taken. This presents a problem, as we have nowhere to
take data from. Fraction of communicative planets is one of these.
Obviously, we don’t know of any communicative planets in our
galaxy. The result of this is needing to estimate these numbers
that we have no actual data for.

The theory was

developed by Frank
Drake in 1961. At
current estimates, the
number of
civilizations that
should be able to
communicate with us in
some way, is 10,000.
Kyler Ross
Connor Fallon
Brandon Carpenter