茫茫宇宙中，除了地球，还有别的生命吗？1961年，天文学家法兰克·德雷克提出了一个大胆的想法——用一条方程式，估算银河系里可能存在多少个能与我们通讯的文明。这条"德雷克方程"没有标准答案，因为里面好几个数字人类至今猜不准，但它第一次把"寻找外星人"变成了一门可以认真讨论的科学。

In the vast universe, is Earth really alone? In 1961, astronomer Frank Drake proposed a bold idea, an equation to estimate how many communicating civilizations might exist in our galaxy. The Drake Equation has no fixed answer, since several of its numbers remain unknown even today. But it turned searching for aliens into a subject serious scientists could discuss.

从那以后，人类真的行动了起来。SETI计划用巨大的射电望远镜，日夜监听宇宙深处可能传来的信号；开普勒太空望远镜升空后，发现了数千颗太阳系外的行星，其中不少和地球一样处在"宜居带"里；1977年，旅行者一号、二号探测器带着一张"金唱片"飞向星际空间，里面刻录了地球的声音、音乐和问候语——这是人类写给宇宙的一封信，至今还在路上。

Since then, humanity has truly taken action. The SETI project uses giant radio telescopes to listen day and night for possible signals from deep space. The Kepler Space Telescope discovered thousands of exoplanets beyond our solar system, many sitting in the habitable zone just like Earth. In 1977, the Voyager 1 and 2 probes carried a Golden Record into interstellar space, engraved with sounds, music, and greetings from Earth, a letter from humanity to the universe, still traveling today.

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