Tattoos of one of the coolest equations around.
Sheldon is familiar with this equation.
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The Drake Equation
Estimate the Number of Civilizations
Alien Life?
Check out this beautiful illustration of the Drake equation by Information is Beautiful. It represents the Drake Equation as a colorful triangles rather than a math equation. It also has a calculator built into the graphic, meaning you can fill in various values to easily see how they’d impact the possibility of intelligent life in our galaxy.
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BBC Future has designed a truly elegant interactive graphic that allows you to adjust the variables of the Drake Equation—a theoretical guesstimate of how many detectable civilizations might exist in our galaxy. Even the slightest changes to the variables—such as the number of new stars born each year or the % chance that a habitable planet develops life—dramatically changes the outcome. It's an intriguing reminder of how many variables remain unknown to us—and how many were necessary to allow for the emergence and (thus far) survival of homo sapiens.
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The Drake Equation
_N = 200 billion x 20% x 2 x 50% x 20% x 50% x 1/100,000,000 ( ~10,000 years) =
N = 10, 000
Check out this Vsauce Youtube clip Are we Ready For Aliens?
Animation explaining famous Drake Equation- YouTube
A TED video about the Drake Equation: Calculating the odds of intelligent alien life - a TED video by Jill Tarter.
Sheldon and the Drake Equation - YouTube
Here is an interactive Drake equation app http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120821-how-many-alien-worlds-exist
N = 10, 000
Check out this Vsauce Youtube clip Are we Ready For Aliens?
Animation explaining famous Drake Equation- YouTube
A TED video about the Drake Equation: Calculating the odds of intelligent alien life - a TED video by Jill Tarter.
Sheldon and the Drake Equation - YouTube
Here is an interactive Drake equation app http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120821-how-many-alien-worlds-exist
Aliens-- Podcast List
These podcasts/readings are essential to understanding the science and critical thinking components of the course and must be listened to or read before class.
Our quiz material on the possibility of alien life will come mostly from podcasts 1-4. You will also need to evaluate one other example from the other podcasts on the quiz.
These podcasts/readings are essential to understanding the science and critical thinking components of the course and must be listened to or read before class.
Our quiz material on the possibility of alien life will come mostly from podcasts 1-4. You will also need to evaluate one other example from the other podcasts on the quiz.
Alien life in science (what does the science say?) These are important for the quiz
1. Are We Alone? (Skeptoid #272) - Are we alone in the galaxy, or might we have been visited by other civilizations? http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4272 2. Astrobiology (Astronomy Cast #143) Astrobiology http://www.astronomycast.com/aliens/ep-143-astrobiology/ 3. The Drake Equation (Astronomy Cast #23) http://www.astronomycast.com/astronomy/episode-23-the-drake-equation/ 4. Where are all the aliens? (Astronomy Cast #24) http://www.astronomycast.com/astronomy/episode-24the-fermi-paradox-where-are-all-the-aliens/ Alien Time Line
Check out how descriptions of aliens have changed over time in popular culture.
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Alien life in popular culture
5. Aliens in Roswell (Skeptoid #79) - What was actually recovered from the Roswell desert in New Mexico in 1947? http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4079 6. Nocturnal Assaults: Aliens in the Dark (Skeptoid #08) - Alien abductions and Old Hags - things that go bump in the night. http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4008 7. The Alien Invasion of Phoenix, Arizona (Skeptoid #41) - Yet another rehash of the infamous Phoenix Lights episode. http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4041 9. Area 51 Facts and Fiction (Skeptoid #313) - Some say alien spacecraft are tested at Nevada's legendary Area 51 site; what does history have to say? http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4313 http://www.dreamlandresort.com/ has some great pictures too 10. Ancient Aliens - Ancient Alien Astronauts http://www.skeptic.com/podcasts/monstertalk/11/07/27/ Alien life in the tabloids 11. Who Are the Raelians, and Why Are They Naked? (Skeptoid #59) - The Raelians are naked and they worship space aliens. http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4059 12. Betty and Barney Hill: The Original UFO Abduction (Skeptoid #124) - A critical look at the original UFO abduction story, that so many people take for granted. http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4124 13. Fire in the Sky: A Real UFO Abduction? (Skeptoid #94) - What evidence is there that Travis Walton was abducted for 5 days from an Arizona forest in 1975? http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4094 14. The Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter: Hillbilly gun battle with what they thought were aliens http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4331 |
Are aliens out there?
In this activity you will you explore the question about whether or not we are alone in the Universe. Explore the videos and interactives below. Explain each activity and the evidence you acquired from it to base your developing opinion.
Write a short paragraph explaining what you learned.
In this activity you will you explore the question about whether or not we are alone in the Universe. Explore the videos and interactives below. Explain each activity and the evidence you acquired from it to base your developing opinion.
Write a short paragraph explaining what you learned.
- The Drake Equation
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/drake-equation.html - Detecting life beyond earth
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/alien-life.html - Aliens in the Milky Way
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/aliens-milky-way.html - Interactive: Four Planet-Hunting Methods http://exoplanetology.blogspot.com/2008/07/interactive-four-planet-hunting-methods.html
Habitable Zones and Planet Hunting
Planet Hunters: Searching for Exosolar Planetary Systems
Kepler Observatory’s Tally of Alien Planets. Goldilock's planet - trailer for movie Battleship |
•Ideally situated away from the sun life can exist
•Has oceans that help maintain a stable temperature •Has a molten iron core that generates a magnetic field around the planet a helps protect the planet from the harmful effects of solar winds and cosmic rays •Has oxygen which is essential for life •Has an ozone layer (composed of O3) that resides in the stratosphere absorbs harmful UV light |
Which planets in the Star Wars galaxy could support life? http://www.wired.com/2015/04/star-wars-planetary-science …
Have participants brainstorm a list of factors which affect the ability of Earth to host life. Have them extend their list to factors which may affect the probability of life on extrasolar planets. Depending on the knowledge level of the participants, they may use the word brightness of star instead of luminosity/mass of star. Use prompts such as 'What if the star doesn't shine for very long?' to help elicit stellar lifetime. Depending on the knowledge level of the participants, you may also want to include the luminosity change of the star as a function of time and galactic factors such as nearby stellar density and metallicity.
An extension is for participants to experiment with the Circumstellar Habitable Zone simulator to test their predictions. In the figure below, the habitable zone is shown in green.
An extension is for participants to experiment with the Circumstellar Habitable Zone simulator to test their predictions. In the figure below, the habitable zone is shown in green.
Why Can't We See Evidence of Alien Life?
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Calculating The Odds of Intelligent Life
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Humans have attempted to communicate with Extra Terrestrial Life
a) 1895: The first radio transmissions are produced.
b) 1972-73: NASA sent two spacecraft, Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11. These spacecraft have gold plaques on them depicting various facts about humans
c) 1974: A 'Hello' Message was sent from the Arecibo in Puerto Rico to globular cluster M13 in the constellation Hercules which is 100 ly from Earth. N.B. when the signal sent there gets there, M 31 will not be in that region of space!
d) 1977: Two voyager spacecraft were sent. These spacecraft have analogue recordings made in gold. Digital technology was not even a gleam in the eyes or eingeneers in 1977. "This is a present from a small, distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours." was the quote from then US president Jimmy Carter.
e) 2008: A broadcast of the Beatles "Across the Universe" was sent. You MUST google this and listen to the song!
f) Television broadcasts have been leaking into space for about 80 years
" What, me worry?"Check out this amusing alien flowchart.
Why would aliens come all this way just to invade Earth? This is a great article exploring the ideas. |
These are essential items to review for the quiz
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Dyson Spheres
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aliens_podcast_list_alien_life.doc | |
File Size: | 55 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Aliens in the Solar System
- Venus: no! High temperature and corrosive atmosphere sufficient to sterilize surface of all Earth-like life.
- Mars: plausible evidence for biosphere > 1 Byr ago with abundant water; SNC meteorites provide some evidence for microorganisms. Too cold and dry now for life? Absence of ozone in atmosphere allows damaging solar UV flux at surface.
- Jupiter, Saturn atmospheres? Results from the Galileo probe (1995) were not promising but don't exclude a biosphere.
- Europa (J) and Enceladus (S), each with evidence for a liquid reservoir/ocean lying beneath the visible crust of ice. Probably the most promising sites for bio-exploration after Mars.
- Titan's (S) extraordinary hydrocarbon-rich atmosphere is a possible biosphere. The Cassini mission has demonstrated the presence of liquid hydrocarbons (methane, ethane) on Titan, and some scientists think "methanogenic" lifeforms might exist there. Most believe the very low temperatures (-180 degrees C) would preclude living organisms on the surface. As in the case of Europa and Enceladus, however, deep reservoirs with more favorable temperatures are possible. Here is a prospectus for exobiology on Titan.
- Comet nuclei: ice, often with an apparent organic molecule coating; temperatures low; could act as "portable reservoirs" of organisms
Questions Concerning Astrobiology Flowchart
http://serc.carleton.edu/marsforearthlings/examples/tardigrades_extremophiles.html
http://cpsx.uwo.ca/outreach/k-12-student-program/mulitple-period-activities
http://cpsx.uwo.ca/outreach/k-12-student-program/mulitple-period-activities