The Drake Equation looks like a simple way to estimate alien civilizations — but the implications are brutal. If the number ...

In 1961, the astronomer Frank Drake wrote down what is now known as the Drake Equation. It's so important to the culture ...

Frank Drake writing his famous equation on a white board. Credit: SETI.org On November 1, 1961, a number of prominent scientists converged on the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, ...