Most likely we are alone in the universe

New calculations show that life in the universe is extremely rare, and the opportunity to survive civilizations is far more remote.

In 1961, a young radio astronomer named Frank Drake came up with a formula to predict how many planets in our galaxy might have civilization. This formula is called the Drake Equation , and when the inventor takes into account factors such as the number of stars, the percentage of possibilities that planets fly around them, the percent of possibilities that these planets might have life ., he concluded that the universe must be full of sentient beings.

But where are they? We have not heard of them since Drake and his colleagues searched for extraterrestrial civilizations.

Now, Dr. Andrew Watson, a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia in Great Britain, thinks that the ability to find extraterrestrial life like us is extremely, extremely low - perhaps only to 0.01 percent for 4 billion years to produce a planet like us that can give life.

The possibility of survival in a certain planet in the universe is extremely small.(Photo: ABC)

Watson is not alone. Don Brownlee and Peter Ward wrote a book called " Rare Earth " (2000), which argued that our planet is an extremely unusual case - not just because it has liquid water, the right size to hold the atmosphere around, but because it also has a giant neighbor (Jupiter) that draws away from asteroids and small debris that otherwise could shot the earth at the time of the solar system.

The element that Watson put in this argument is that there is a " narrow window " for life on earth - and we have appeared quite late in that window. The sun is expanding strongly, so the earth can only survive for 1 billion years before dying.

"The complex structures of life are separated from prokaryotes (possibly the first primitive living cells on earth) thanks to some unusual mutations, and therefore, are much less common. Compared to prokaryotes, intelligent intelligence is the next step of the mutant, so it is even more difficult to have an opportunity to appear, " he wrote.

Nevertheless, Drake's group continued to study extraterrestrial civilizations, greatly supported by sponsors like Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Maybe one day, they will prove that Watson's opinion is wrong.