Study says human civilization may be the only intelligent life form in the galaxy

The search for the existence of aliens has been going on since the primitive civilizations that lived on Earth; After all, many people believe that humanity is not alone in such a vast universe. But maybe this is a half-truth. A new study draws attention Since there should be no other type of intelligent life in the region, humans are alone in the universe, at least in the Milky Way.

According to an article published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports, a team of scientists from the US and Switzerland has collected new data on why they have not found any intelligent life. The researchers believe plate tectonics is one of the features that drives the evolution of life And maybe that’s why we didn’t find any aliens there.

The Drake equation is a famous equation developed by American astronomer Frank Drake in the mid-1960s that attempts to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy. However, the authors of the paper note that the equation may have overlooked the role of oceans and continents in the formation of intelligent life; perhaps it will be more difficult than Drake had anticipated.

“Life has existed on Earth for about 4 billion years, but complex organisms such as animals only emerged about 600 million years ago, not long after the beginning of the modern era of plate tectonics. Plate tectonics really drives the engine of evolution, and we think we understand why,” said Robert Stern, one of the authors and a geoscientist at the University of Texas, in an official statement.

Milky Way: Is there intelligent life in the galaxy?

Scientists explain that the slow movement of tectonic plates is extremely important for the development of complex life such as humans. They claim that: In the absence of these processes, life would probably never have evolved beyond simpler microbial forms..

The goal of the new study is to improve the Drake Equation to enable a formulation that delivers the intrinsic properties needed to search for intelligent life in the Milky Way.

Researchers claim It turns out that adjustments to these features in the equation would greatly reduce the predictions for intelligent life in our galaxy. In fact, when this feature is added, it is estimated that planets with water and plate tectonics are much fewer.

Some consequences of the Drake Equation situation It is stated that rocky objects like Earth exist at up to 0.2%, but the new qualifications of the study reduce this number to 0.003%..

“Biogeochemistry suggests that the solid Earth, particularly plate tectonics, accelerates species evolution. Studies like ours are useful because they encourage broad thinking about larger mysteries and provide an example of how we can apply our knowledge of Earth’s systems to interesting questions about our universe,” Stern adds.

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