Extraterrestrials

1
Extraterrestrials (ALIENS!!!)

• Outcome
• 117-11 Analyse examples of Canadian
  extraterrestrial encounters.

2
Extraterrestrial

• Life that does not originate from Earth.
• It is unknown whether any such life exists. There
  is no evidence to this claim!
• The theorization of extraterrestrial life is
  known as astrobiology or exobiology (like
  exo-planets).
• One possibility is that life has emerged
  independently at many places throughout the
  universe.
• One possibility is exogenesis, in which life
  would have spread between habitable planets.
• Possible forms of extraterrestrial life range
  from simple bacteria-like organisms to sapient
  beings far more advanced than humans.
• Suggested locations on which life might have
  developed, or which might continue to host life
  today, include the planets Venus and Mars moons
  of Jupiter and Saturn such as Europa and Titan
  and extrasolar GOLDILOCKS planets such as Gliese
  581 c and d, recently discovered to be near Earth
  mass and apparently located in their star's
  habitable zone, with the potential to have liquid
  water.

3
Evidence for Extraterrestrial Life

• http//www.newscientist.com/article/dn9943-top-10-
  controversial-pieces-of-evidence-for-extraterrestr
  ial-life.html
• The vast size of the observable universe and the
  number of galaxies, stars, planetary systems
  seems to suggest that life is very probable

4
Evidence

• 1. 1976, The Viking Mars landers detect chemical
  signatures indicative of life
• 2. 1977, The unexplained extraterrestrial "Wow!"
  signal is detected by an Ohio State University
  radio telescope

5
Evidence

• 3. 1996, Martian "fossils" are discovered in
  meteorite ALH80041 from Antarctica
• 4. 2001, A more rigorous estimate of the "Drake
  equation" suggests that our galaxy may contain
  hundreds of thousands of life-bearing planets
• 5. 2001, The red tinge of Jupiter's moon Europa
  proposed to be due to frozen bits of bacteria,
  which also helps explain the mysterious infrared
  signal it gives off

6
Evidence

• 6. 2002, Russian scientists argue that a
  mysterious radiation-proof microbe may have
  evolved on Mars
• 7. 2002, Chemical hints of life are found in old
  data from Venus probes and landers. Could
  microbes exist in Venusian clouds?
• 8. 2003, Sulphur traces on Jupiter's moon Europa
  may be the waste products of underground
  bacterial colonies

7
Evidence

• 9. 2004, Methane in the Martian atmosphere hints
  at microbial metabolism
• 10. 2004, A mysterious radio signal is received
  by the SETI project on three occasions - from the
  same region of space

8
Stephen Hawking

• http//abcnews.go.com/Technology/Space/stephen-haw
  king-alien-contact-risky/story?id10478157
• http//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36769422/

9
UFO

• Unidentified Flying Objects
• Most UFO sightings are explained either as
  sightings of Earth-based aircraft or known
  astronomical objects, or as hoaxes.
• Some sightings have remained unexplained, in some
  cases having been reported by trained
  professionals.

10
UFO Sightings in Canada!

• Almost 10 of Canadians believe they have seen a
  UFO
• 78 of Canadians believe in life on a planet
  other than Earth
• 57 of Canadians believe that the government is
  hiding information about aliens
• Information from http//www.virtuallystrange.net
  /ufo/mufonontario/archive/97poll.htm
• UFO Sightings in Canada
• http//www.ufoinfo.com/sightings/canada.shtml

11
Shag Harbour Sighting

• http//archives.cbc.ca/science_technology/unexplai
  ned/topics/725/
• http//archives.cbc.ca/science_technology/unexplai
  ned/topics/725/

12
Close Encounters of the Canadian Kind - Radio

• http//archives.cbc.ca/science_technology/unexplai
  ned/topics/725/
• 7 min

13
One of Canadas earliest paranormal sightings

• Broadcast date Aug. 24, 1962

14
UFO Landing Sight

• http//archives.cbc.ca/science_technology/unexplai
  ned/topics/725/
• An invitation thats out of this world (July 2,
  1967)

15
CBC TV clip

• http//archives.cbc.ca/science_technology/unexplai
  ned/clips/4343/
• 3 min

16
Canadas famous UFO encounterBroadcast Date
Feb. 21, 1983
17
Radio Recording1986

• http//archives.cbc.ca/science_technology/unexplai
  ned/clips/4399/
• 24 min

18
Alien Abductions in CanadaBroadcast date Oct.
8, 1986
19
Crop Circles in Canada CBC

• http//archives.cbc.ca/science_technology/unexplai
  ned/clips/4350/
• 4 min

20
Crop Circles Leaving a mark in Canada

• Broadcast Date Aug. 21, 1990

21
The Truth is Out There

• http//archives.cbc.ca/science_technology/unexplai
  ned/topics/725/

22
Math and UFOs

• The Drake Equation
• Developed by Frank Drake in 1961 as a way to
  focus on the factors which determine how many
  intelligent, communicating civilizations there
  are in our galaxy (Milky Way).
• http//www.activemind.com/Mysterious/Topics/SETI/d
  rake_equation.html

23
What is Life???
24

• What are the requirements for life as we know it?

25
Drake Equation

• The Drake Equation is
• N R x fp x ne x fl x fi x fc x L
• where
• N of civilizations in our galaxy with which
  communication might be possible
• R average rate of star formation per year in
  our galaxy
• fp fraction of those stars that have planets
• ne average number of planets that can
  potentially support life per star that has
  planets
• fl the fraction of the above where life
  potentially evolves
• fi the fraction of the above that actually go
  on to develop intelligent life
• fc the fraction of civilizations that develop a
  technology that releases detectable signs of
  their existence into space
• L the length of time such civilizations release
  detectable signals into space

26
Drake Equation Historical Estimates (1961)

• R 10/year (10 stars formed per year, on the
  average over the life of the galaxy)
• fp 0.5 (half of all stars formed will have
  planets)
• ne 2 (stars with planets will have 2 planets
  capable of developing life)
• fl 1 (100 of these planets will develop life)
• fi 0.01 (1 of which will be intelligent life)
• fc 0.01 (1 of which will be able to
  communicate)
• L 10,000 years

27
The Answer

• Find the number of civilizations in our galaxy
  with which communication might be possible,
  according to this equation

28
Drake Equation Modern Estimates

• R 7/year, fp 0.5, ne 2, fl 0.33, fi
  0.01, fc 0.01, and L 10,000 years

29
Drake Equation Pessimists

• R 10/year, fp 0.5, ne 0.01, fl 0.13, fi
  0.001, fc 0.01, and L 1000 years

30
Drake Equation Optimists

• R 20/year, fp 0.5, ne 2, fl 1, fi 0.1,
  fc 0.1, and L 100,000 years

31
Drake equation Current Estimates

• NASA
• R 7
• fp 0.4 (40)