Over 30 Alien Civilizations Could Be Living In Milky Way, Scientists Claim

A team of scientists claimed that there could be over 30 intelligent alien civilizations living within the Milky Way galaxy. The scientists based their theory on estimates regarding the formation of intelligent alien life.

The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Nottingham in England. It was recently published in The Astrophysical Journal.

The scientists based their study on the estimates related to the formation of life in the universe. They believe that similar to how life evolved on Earth, civilizations of intelligent aliens may have also formed in other planets located within Milky Way.

Through this assumption, the scientists formulated an estimate of the possible number of alien civilizations in the galaxy. They explained that intelligent life tends to form in less than or after 5 billion years. In the case of Earth, an intelligent civilization emerged after 4.5 billion years.

According to the scientists, the Sun played an important role in the formation of life on Earth. After calculating the number of Sun-like stars in the galaxy, the scientists estimated that there could be around 36 intelligent alien civilizations in the Milky Way.

“The classic method for estimating the number of intelligent civilizations relies on making guesses of values relating to life, whereby opinions about such matters vary quite substantially,” the study’s co-author Tom Westby said in a statement. “Our new study simplifies these assumptions using new data, giving us a solid estimate of the number of civilizations in our Galaxy.”

The scientists categorized the life forms as civilized based on their ability to communicate, such as by sending signals and transmissions into space through satellites. Since humans took about a hundred years before they were able to send signals out into space, then alien civilizations that have been around for about a century might also have the means to carry out interplanetary communication.

“If other technological civilizations last as long as ours, which is currently 100 years old, then there will be about 36 ongoing intelligent technical civilizations throughout our Galaxy,” the scientists explained in a statement.