Life
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Essay 1
Is there anybody out there?
I for one believe that there is life on other planets. I think the chance of it being in our
own solar system is small, but given the millions of other solar systems out there I
believe that it is quite likely. Given the extremely hard task of proving that life exists on
other planets, I will not dwell on methods of proving but, present evidence that
encourages the belief that extraterrestrial life exists. I will support this in two major
areas. The first is the statistical probability of there being extraterrestrial life, and the
second being that life may not have to evolve in a manner that involves an oxygen rich
planet.
In 1961 Frank Drake, an astronomer in California developed an equation." It
summarizes all the factors involved in the likelihood of our detecting signals broadcast by
an intelligent alien civilization."(Nature News Service) The Drake equation has a number
of variables that are unknown.
Charles Lineweaver and Tamara Davis of the University of New South Wales
in Sydney considered a simpler version of the equation, which asks merely what
proportion of stars have evolved any kind of life, not necessarily intelligent...