Searching For Life – Part 2

In this section we are going to continue the search for life outside of our own planet, and we are also going to ask the question. What if we are alone in the whole universe?

 

Ever since great minds like Carl Sagan & Dr Frank Drake started to make the world think about life outside of our own planet, scientists the world over have been working on new technology’s that will hopefully bring us closer to answering this age old question.

 

Because of the Hubble telescope (pictured above) we understand more clearly just how many possibilities of life there could be in of galaxy and further in the universe,  as the Hubble has looked as far as we can possibly see right now confirming the endless amount of galaxies and stars. And its because of this technology that we have started to discover Exoplanets that provide the best chance of confirming any type of life.

 

The Drake equation in part 1 is based just on the Milky Way, and that calculation states at the least 1 in every 5 planets in just one mid size galaxy could harbour life based on the right conditions, providing millions of chances.

 

However with millions of chances and the likelihood that somewhere in the universe there is life, why haven’t found any yet, and could we really be so unique in the universe that we are the only planet to ever have had life?

 

So with the Drake equation on one hand the whole cosmos could be beaming with life, and on the other hand there could be no life at all anywhere in the universe as we have never found any. At the moment we don’t know if there is life anywhere in the universe, however we cannot see that far yet as our search is still young. Or it might be that any other life is just to distant to ever find in our generation.

 

We do however try hard and again thanks to Sagan & Drank who have been instrumental in the setup of the SETI (search for extra terrestrial intelligence) organization, which is an organization with a sole mission to search the stars to fine life, we may yet one day and even soon confirm that we are not alone in the universe.

 

Kids Fun Facts Corner

# 1. SETI is an organization dedicated to the search for life in the universe.

# 2. The James Webb telescope was invented to search for life on Exoplanets.

# 3. The search for Alien life if conducted by radio waves.

# 4. The movie Contact starring actor Jodie Foster is based on the book of the same name written by astronomer Carl Sagan. The movie and book as based around the contact of alien civilizations through radio waves.

 

Q&A Corner

Q. What is the Drake equation?

Q. Who was Dr. Frank Drake?

Q. What is the Fermi Paradox?

Q. What is the name of the space telescope that is searching for Exoplanets?

Q. What does the organization SETI stand for?

Download questions about searching for life here: searching for life (answers are on this page)

For further reading and more info on searching for life visit www.easyscienceforkids.com/searching for life