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. Arecibo Observatory
    Astronomy

    Arecibo Observatory, an ‘icon of Puerto Rican science,’ will be demolished

    By Lisa Grossman
  2. farm on Mars, illustrated
    Planetary Science

    Farming on Mars will be a lot harder than ‘The Martian’ made it seem

    By Maria Temming
  3. TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet system
    Space

    Planets with many neighbors may be the best places to look for life

    By Lisa Grossman
  4. illustration of Mars surface
    Planetary Science

    Chemical reactions high in Mars’ atmosphere rip apart water molecules

    By Lisa Grossman
  5. close up of lasers pointed at a target
    Physics

    Giant lasers help re-create supernovas’ explosive, mysterious physics

    By Emily Conover
  6. STEVE sky glow
    Earth

    STEVE may be even less like typical auroras than scientists thought

    By Maria Temming
  7. bluish illustration of surface of Europa
    Space

    Jupiter’s icy moon Europa may glow in the dark

    By Maria Temming
  8. Leo I galaxy
    Space

    The Milky Way makes little galaxies bloom, then snuffs them out

    By Ken Croswell

From the Nature Index

Paid Content