Heh. However ... put a tin of beans in a carrier bag, the bag contains the beans. Turn the bag inside out, it suddenly contains everything else!
Here's another one from IFL Science that helps with the "Where is everybody?" question... possibly... Earth May Have Formed Earlier Than 92% Of Other Habitable Planets | IFLScience
See ? It's all about time... It does amuse me how many people quote the Drake equation as though it is a proved fact. It is, and only ever was, designed to promote discussion and ideas - It's just one person's idea of a possibility, nothing more...
8% left then, how many habitable planets does that leave? Billions? Actually, take a quote directly from that article ..."And even if the Milky Way has just one other civilization, that would imply there are 10 billion others across other galaxies." :Wideyed:
Although Drake's equation was always probabilistic, and while it does take into account the Lifespan (time) that an alien civilisation will be emitting (detectable) radio signals, it doesn't take into account the age of the universe as we simply don't know how long that will be; even if we can calculate the length of time to the last star collapsing (~100 Trillion Years, iirc) there will still be sources of radiation, such as black holes, to keep the universe going until eventual entropy/heat death... but even that is a theory to the end of the universe if, indeed, it will end at all. We are but a slither of time in the age of the universe, and the vast numbers involved in the equations show that it is definitely certain that life will evolve elsewhere in the universe, if not in many multiple locations, but the chances of one detecting the other within its lifetime, and the ability to do anything once detected, is the real kicker.
Drake's equation is, as the man himself actually said, merely a theoretical equation. The theory cannot be backed up by anything observable - hence Fermi's paradox. Looking at it logically, if the observable results don't match the theoretical equation then it's possible, probable even, that the theory is inaccurate. There is a simple "Zen and the art..." answer to the paradox. We can't see anything out there because there is nothing out there to be seen...
The whole thread is based on theory, we know very little about what is actually out there. The fact that we disagree and debate is what provokes thought and makes in more fascinating imo.
Well, that's another debate altogether. Does the Universe end? If it does, what's after the point where it ends? Can it go on forever? My head hurts
