Are there millions of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy alone capable of visiting Earth

Anyone who has studied this subject knows about the Greenbank equation (aka Drake Equation):

en.wikipedia.org...

With all the exoplanets being discovered I was wondering how it would affect some of the factors making up the Drake equation. I found this quote interesting:

"Extrapolating out to the rest of the galaxy, scientists estimate that the Milky Way could contain upwards of 50 billion planets, 500 million of which could be in their stars' habitable zones. That's a LOT of planets to discover!"

And this is just our galaxy! Who is to say inter-galactic travel is not possible? Once you have FTL technology then maybe having a "blink drive" is possible:

darkmatter.fandom.com...

We could have millions of extraterrestrial civilizations capable of visiting Earth.

The current thinking is it comes down to exotic forms of matter capable of bending, controlling, or creating gravity waves.

What do you think, empty space or teeming with extraterrestrials? Ancient astronaut theorists say, "Yes!"

a reply to: dfnj2015


I would wonder why none of these "millions of extraterrestrial civilizations" have not invented at way to travel the stars and come visit us then... who to say we should be the firsts, perhaps they are already here, or was here.

The math would suggest it’s a certainty that other life exists, at least to my reasoning.
Interstellar travel though I’m not sure about, I’m more inclined to think we will figure out hibernation or stasis before ftl which could mean that there are millions of sleeping aliens floating in the void but may never get anywhere.

I don’t believe for a second that earth is 1 in 500+ billion unique so I don’t question if there’s alien life, for me the question is will we ever meet them

S&F

a reply to: dfnj2015

It's much more complicated.
You need a very stabile environment. Not just habitable zone equals life, that's silly.
The planet needs the right composition of elements, a water-land balance, a stabile climate and seasons, which means a moon with the right size, plus bodyguards like Jupiter or they would get bombarded constantly...
Which very likely might narrow it down to one per galaxy.

originally posted by: IkNOwSTuffThe math would suggest it’s a certainty that other life exists, at least to my reasoning.

Math does not suggest anything, people do.

a reply to: dfnj2015

I think there are millions of them , but they just stay well clear of earth because we are #in egotistical #s

Millions...? getting cavalier with numbers I think.
As for the question, Nobody Knows. Nobody.

originally posted by: sapien82
a reply to: dfnj2015

I think there are millions of them , but they just stay well clear of earth because we are #in egotistical #s

Maybe this is why the cosmic tricksters feel so justified to Fu** with us.

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: dfnj2015

It's much more complicated.
You need a very stabile environment. Not just habitable zone equals life, that's silly.
The planet needs the right composition of elements, a water-land balance, a stabile climate and seasons, which means a moon with the right size, plus bodyguards like Jupiter or they would get bombarded constantly...
Which very likely might narrow it down to one per galaxy.

Yeah. We have yet to figure out abiogenesis, can't say what it takes for a simple self-replicating single cell organism to assemble itself from protein goo. It happened on Earth eventually. But what are the exact chances?

Mathematical equations are great, but until they show up I'm going with a big Nope.

originally posted by: moebius

originally posted by: IkNOwSTuffThe math would suggest it’s a certainty that other life exists, at least to my reasoning.

Math does not suggest anything, people do.

This reminds me of the saying, "guns don't kill people bullets do."

originally posted by: moebius

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: dfnj2015

It's much more complicated.
You need a very stabile environment. Not just habitable zone equals life, that's silly.
The planet needs the right composition of elements, a water-land balance, a stabile climate and seasons, which means a moon with the right size, plus bodyguards like Jupiter or they would get bombarded constantly...
Which very likely might narrow it down to one per galaxy.

Yeah. We have yet to figure out abiogenesis, can't say what it takes for a simple self-replicating single cell organism to assemble itself from protein goo. It happened on Earth eventually. But what are the exact chances?

I thought about this problem a lot. And my conclusions is if cellular life forming is a billion to 1 and there are trillions and trillions of attempts then maybe one of the lottery tickets will eventually hit. I think it's lottery math and how many attempts occur.

originally posted by: sapien82
a reply to: dfnj2015

I think there are millions of them , but they just stay well clear of earth because we are #in egotistical #s

I tend to agree with you. We are like a species of ant on a hill in Africa. For the 7 billion people on the planet nobody really cares about species of ants. But there is a very small population myrmecologists who can't get enough of the subject. And I'm sure there's a population of hobbyists with their own formicariums. But people who love ants know how to handle them mostly by leaving the colonies alone in the wild as you study them. The trick is to study them without disturbing the nest!

Maybe it is just impossible to travel FTL? Perhaps it is a universal barrier that cannot be overcome, at least by technologically based civilisations. Not all advanced civilisations need be based around tech, of course. Advanced mental powers, anyone?

a reply to: dfnj2015

yeh Im sure there are research teams etc , anthropologists studying humans

xenobiologists studying our flora and fauna


and of course the kids that steal the elders ship to come here and smoke weed

a reply to: Peeple

I thought I remember reading most of these solar systems having planets in the Goldilocks zones also have a few giant planets as well.

a reply to: oldcarpy


well if you can manipulate matter by thought alone " consciousness manifests reality"
then you dont need FTL , if you can fold space just by thinking it

Meh. My opinion is that life is another form of matter like solid, liquid, gas etc. and it exists every where it’s remotely possible. Look here on earth, we have life of some form in every conceivable environment provided here, from arctic to desert to ocean steam vents, and a massive biomass underground. I expect there are, indeed, millions of higher life forms in our galaxy. And why haven’t we seen them? Well just 10 years ago we interacted with a tribe that had no prior contact with advanced society. Just on our own planet. So if they were living on our own small planet for however long without contact with the many civilizations here, most of which far more advanced than them, how much more possible is it for aliens in a huge space to avoid contact with our world. It is a #hole, after all. Why would they visit when likely they can observe everything they need from great distance. Added is the fact that if they have the ability to come so far in exploratory or recreational form, then they are probably enough advanced to us that they can easily evade our technology for detection.

a reply to: sapien82

Yes - like in Dune?

Other life forms could be so alien that we would not even recognise it as life?