Join us as we take our SMAP students on a journey exploring the options of The Great Filter. Have you contemplated the possibility of life elsewhere in the Universe, but not sure where or what kind of life that might be?

If extraterrestrial life is plentiful, why haven't we made contact?

If habitable planets are relatively common, could they be steaming with flora and/or fauna or even life more advanced than humans?

Are there barriers that make it unlikely that life anywhere could advance beyond any given evolutionary stage?

Could intelligent life be unique to Earth?

Is there an existential barrier event looming in our future of which we are unaware?

Are questions like these even answerable?

Estimates to these kinds of questions were posed in 1961 by astrophysicist Frank Drake, resulting in what has become to be known as The Drake Equation. Purdue Physics and Astronomy graduate researcher Anirudh Kumar leads this most interesting and engaging presentation aimed at exploring Fermi questions, the Fermi paradox, and The Great Filter.

Stop, look, and listen; where do your own theories fall?

SMAP is done monthly on Zoom for students in grades 8-12. If you are curious to know more, you can check out SMAP here, https://bit.ly/SMAPPurdue.

Timeline:
0:00 Host introduction; remember ET?
1:47 What constitutes and "alien" life form?
3:58 Poll question: What kinds of life might exist outside Earth?
4:25 Let's look a a "Fermi Question."
7:15 BREAKOUT 1: Pre-requisites for life elsewhere in the Cosmos
9:53 Discussion
12:52 Why should we care about alien life?
15:32 Introducing the Drake Equation
21:25 Applying the Drake Equation for "low N" case - Where are the aliens!
24:00 The Great Filter and evolution of life, Earth and Beyond
29:10 BREAKOUT 2: Seven stages common to all life forms
32:32 Discussion
35:25 Applying the Great Filter

Special thanks to Jonathan Sullivan-Wood for his artistic creation of this totally appropriate and colorful thumbnail.