Intelligent Life: What is out there?
This week’s meeting of the Year 10 Athenaeum, led by Mr Hindocha, focussed on the question of whether there is intelligent life elsewhere in our galaxy. Having considered a definition of intelligent life, the students were introduced to the famous Drake Equation a probabilistic argument attempting to come up with the number of such intelligent communicative systems that there might be. In addition, Mr Hindocha introduced the idea of the Great Filter and the students pondered which side of it we might be and what the possible consequences of that might be.
As in previous year a poll of student views was taken at the beginning and end of the session. Often there is a fairly even split at the start with some change after the talk. This year the poll at the start was almost unanimous….there is something out there!
