Society for Science & the Public, which publishes Science News, uses cookies to personalize your experience and improve our services. For more information on how we use cookies on our websites, visit our Cookie Policy.
News Space

The Drake Equation Turns 50: An interview with Frank Drake

Astronomer's insight led to equation that quantifies extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way

By Nadia Drake

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Space

  1. protoplanetary disk
    Space

    Electric charges on dust grains may help explain how planets are born

    By Emily Conover
  2. Parker Solar Probe illustration
    Space

    NASA’s Parker probe reveals the sun’s rogue plasma waves and magnetic islands

    By Christopher Crockett
  3. Moon
    Space

    How brightly the moon glows is a mystery, but maybe not for long

    By Maria Temming
  4. black hole
    Space

    A newfound black hole in the Milky Way is weirdly heavy

    By Christopher Crockett
  5. NGC 5477
    Astronomy

    19 more galaxies mysteriously missing dark matter have been found

    By Christopher Crockett
  6. Space rocks hitting Earth illustration
    Planetary Science

    Ribose, a sugar needed for life, has been detected in meteorites

    By Christopher Crockett
  7. Exploding star illustration
    Space

    How two gamma-ray bursts created record-breaking high-energy photons

    By Christopher Crockett
  8. solar spicules
    Space

    Realigning magnetic fields may drive the sun’s spiky plasma tendrils

    By Christopher Crockett

From the Nature Index

Paid Content