In 1961, the Drake equation was created by Dr. Frank Drake to investigate the possibility that alien life forms exist somewhere. The formula examines factors such as the average rate of star formation and the fraction of planets that go on to develop intelligent life. Now, scientists have taken this equation and applied it to the dating world. Can a client hunting formula really help people find their one true love? Here's what they found.
Steven Wooding and his data scientist colleague Rijk de Wet used the Drake equation to evaluate the chance of love by looking at numerous factors. They looked at the population growth rate, attractiveness, age range, and education level. They also included the factor of one's own criteria, which focuses on how attractive a person finds themselves and more. "In my case, the odds of love are 2.1 times better than there being one 1,000 light-years away," Mr. Wooding told DailyMail.
The original reason why the Drake equation was formulated wasn't to actually find aliens - instead, Dr. Drake wanted it to inspire debate. And that's exactly the same goal that Wooding had: He assured that everyone should "benefit from the equation and look at their chances of love with a scientific mindset." This isn't the first time a researcher has used the equation to find love. Back in 2010, Peter Backus used the Drake formula to assess that in the U.K., there were a total of 26 women that he would make a good couple with, based on age, appearance, and intellect. "As someone who loves the topic of aliens, I got really interested in the idea of adapting the Drake Equation into the dating world, as Peter Backus did in his darkly humorous study," revealed Wooding during an interview with DailyMail.
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Dr. Drake wrote out the equation as N = R* x Fp x Ne x Fi x Fc x L, and it's exactly what helped him discover that there is an estimate of 10,000 civilizations in our galaxy. And now, Wooding and colleagues are trying to use both Backus and Drake's formula to help others find a love match. "I believe that adding the fun factor of comparing their chances to the likelihood of an alien civilization somehow puts things into perspective and makes them realize whether there really aren't many options in their area or if their preferences are just too narrow." Currently, the data used to find it out is only available for those living in the UK. Test it out for yourself here.
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