Scientists Believe Ancient Alien Civilization May Have Once Existed

Is there really life other than ours in this universe? If so, how long have these inhabitants existed and are they able to communicate with us? Questions like these have been a constant topic for everyone, and there are those who try their best to look for answers to satisfy their curiosity.

These questions can actually be summed up in the famous Drake equation which was proposed by astronomer Frank Drake in 1961. It outlines important variables for a technologically inclined civilization out there to link up with us.

According to Tech Times, with recent discoveries of exoplanets, there is a new study suggesting there could be a way to simplify this equation. The findings show that there were a lot of alien civilizations though most of them are extinct, but this could give us clues as to how humans extend the civilization they have. Adam Frank, the lead researcher and University of Rochester professor Adam Frank said that the question regarding the existence of advanced alien life have always been stuck with three large doubts in the Drake equation which was explained in the SETI Institute website.

"We've known for a long time approximately how many stars exist. We didn't know how many of those stars had planets that could potentially harbor life, how often life might evolve and lead to intelligent beings, and how long any civilizations might last before becoming extinct," Frank added.

Hngn.com said that NASA's Kepler Satellite and another planetary searches have shown that about one-fifth of stars have planets that can possibly be lived in. This habitable zone is where temperatures could potentially support life, but more interestingly, the real question is, how long will civilization survive habitable planets?

In this study, researchers focused on the question: Are we the only technological species that has ever arisen? They calculated the odds against other advanced civilization arising in the entire history of the observable universe. Although this won't be able to tell them how many species are out there, it will tell them how likely it is for technological species to evolve on a given habitable planet.

So, what did they find? It turns out that human civilization is likely to be unique in the cosmos only if the odds of a civilization developing on a habitable planet are less than about one in 10 billion trillion, or one part in 10 to the 22nd power.

"One in 10 billion trilling is incredibly small," Frank said. "To me, this implies that other intelligent; technology producing species very likely have evolved before us. Think of it this way. Before our result you'd be considered a pessimist if you imagined the probability of evolving a civilization on a habitable planet was, say, one in a trillion. But even that guess, one chance in a trillion, implies that what happened here on Earth with humanity has in fact happened about 10 billion other times over cosmic history!"