What is the "The Silurian Hypothesis"

Ancient Indus Valley Civilization settlement

Tom recently read a fascinating white paper on "The Silurian Hypothesis" - a paper authored by a scientist in the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and we thought we'd share it with you! 

WHAT IS THE SILURIAN HYPOTHESIS?  - Using observation, what we know based on the observation of our own planet/sun/solar system, there's this paradox that the window of time where an advanced civilization exists is minutely small when compared to the lifespan of a star or planet.  The paradox being that the longer a civilization lasts the more opportunity that they will have a record of their existence.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN? It stands to reason that an advanced civilization will become more sustainable over time in order to prolong its existence, meaning that it will actually reduce its footprint on a planet's surface, and reduce bad behaviors that are damaging to its environment.  

Earth from NASA's EPIC Camera on DSCOVR spacecraft. Cr: NASA

ENTER THE "DRAKE EQUATION" -The paper explains the Drake Equation, which was developed in the 1960s, but has been modified recently to include the "pessimism line" - using the earth and humans, and how long it has taken for homo sapiens to evolve, that the number of intelligent species will most likely be limited to 1 per planet/star.  

SO, WHAT DOES THE DRAKE EQUATION DO? The Drake Equation is a formula, a scientifically accepted framework, that calculates how many such civilizations can exist in a given galaxy.