I saw from the Daily Galaxy that Frank Drake has died.

He was one of the pioneers of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) and derived an equation (now named after him) to estimate the number of intelligent civilisations in the galaxy, an equation quite often referred to in Science Fiction stories.

It’s a pretty comprehensive assessment of the factors which need to be taken into account in making any such calculation but of limited use as it requires estimating values for several of its components for which reliable nummbers are unavailable.

It has given us humans some idea of what to look for, though.

So far in vain.

Frank Donald Drake: 28/5/1930 – 2/9/2022. So it goes.