NPRE 402 HW1

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University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign *

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402

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Astronomy

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Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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Srinu Rayudu NPRE 402 1. Write a paragraph about the “Fermi Paradox”. The "Fermi Paradox," as described in the preface, involves astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial life. The paradox arises from the contradiction between the high probability of alien civilizations existing in the universe and the lack of evidence for contact with these civilizations. Even with the Earth being around 4.6 billion years old, and the universe approximately 13.7 billion years old, there is still no hard evidence of life outside of Earth. Fermi suggested that this vast timescale should have been sufficient for intelligent and technologically advanced civilizations to emerge and be prominent. No evidence from the research done by scientists supports this. The preface also mentions various theories that attempt to resolve the paradox, including the idea that alien life might exist in oceans beneath a planet's surface, and the "zoo hypothesis," which says that advanced societies in our galaxy have consciously decided not to contact Earth to preserve us in a manner “like how humans conserve natural areas to protect them from human interference.” 2. Access the internet to determine the latest available figure of total global power consumption. “ The world's electricity consumption is approximately 25,500 terawatt-hours in 2022. Between 1980 and 2022, electricity consumption more than tripled.”
Srinu Rayudu NPRE 402 https://www.statista.com/statistics/280704/world-power-consumption/#:~:text=The%20world's %20electricity%20consumption%20has,reached%20almost%20eight%20billion%20people . 3. Use Carl Sagan’s formula to calculate our technological civilization’s level on Kardashev’s cosmic scale. Carl Sagan’s Equation: Using 25,500 terawatt-hours (25*10^12 watts), K= 0.74 4. On the Kardashev Scale, identify the power needs in Watts for Type I, II and III civilizations. Type I needs 10^16 Watts on their own planet, Type II needs 10^26 Watts within their star system and Type III needs 10^36 Watts within their galaxy. 5. In how many years is our Earth expected to achieve a Type I status? Earth will reach a Type I civilization in approximately 100-200 years.
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