Due to much request, PMs and flames I added the full list of contributors to the description. I'll update the .gif later. Please don't scare me with Internet lawsuits, I'm afraid my e-lawyer has passed out in a cold alley from last night.
The last element is truly a number to guess. Based on our guess, the product could be 0 or 10^12. We can't know the final element because we obviously haven't been contacted by extra-terrestrial life before. Also there exists a rather pessimistic "prophecy" (if you will) which states that the higher the techological level of a civilization is, the probability of said civilization to exterminate itself converges to one. That could explain why E.T hasn't phoned yet.
Also c*cks.
"this is pretty freaking amazing. but i couldnt read half the text. now, out
of those 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000s of stars, think how many have
planets...now do you really think that we're the only planet with life on
it?"
The head of SETI has developed a mathematical equation determining the possible amount of civilizations. It's a product of several assumptions, such as "How fast stars form", "What's the probability of said star to have a planetary system", "The probability of said system to have conditions for life", "The probability for that life to develop intelligence".
The problem lies in the last element of the Drake equation: "How long E.T stayed on the air" or "What is the probability that said civilization hadn't destroyed itself"
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