Posted: September 16th, 2017

1.In the class notes we make use of the Drake equation as providing a statistical estimate of the number of civilizations that might exist in

1.In the class notes we make use of the Drake equation as providing a statistical estimate of the number of civilizations that might exist in our Galaxy and are capable of communication. Recently, however, some scientists have argued that the Drake equation is an inaccurate description. This new theory is known as the

“Rare Earth Theory” (by Ward and Brownless). Do some research on this new theory and identify what the key components of this theory are that suggests planets like the Earth are much rarer than we think they are.
2.This is question you have to think about – there is no textbook or google answer available to you:
Consider our galaxy to be a very thin circular disk of stars of radius approximately 50,000 light years.

If there are currently 2500 civilizations in our galaxy capable of communication, what is the approximate separation of these civilizations (in units of light years) if they are uniformly (e.g. equally spaced) distributed within this circular disk of stars? (it helps to visualize this problem by drawing a circle and putting some uniformly space dots in that circle and then thinking about the problem that is being asked).

3.THIS IS A SERIOUS QUESTION; NOT AN IDLE EXERCISE
Via any social mobility platform that you use, email your digitial friends the following poll to respond to, and make sure you include the preface. You should get responses from at least 10 individuals.

The question:

Based on the responses you got from your circle of friends summarize what you think the relationship between humans and nature must be and whether or not that relationship has played out in the real world. Your generation is all about “sustainability” – based on your responses do you think that humans have the right characterstics to foster sustainability? If so, what are those characteristics, if not, how do you instill the needed characterstics?