Gaia Symphony International Version

[Abe' Mark Nornes]

At 8:21 PM -0800 11/24/99, Michael Badzik wrote:
>  Drake is a radio astronomer of some renown, so it
> would not be surprising if he still did some work for NASA. Or do you
> know something here that I don't?

I had no idea who he was, and could only go on what was in the film. It
explains that he was at Cornell, but  not why he left. It shows his home and
offices in Santa Cruz, but not that that he is emeritus at UC. He explains a
formula that he discovered that calculates and proves the existence of
extra-terrestrial, intelligent life. The formula comes up with a hard number
of how many civilizations are out there, and how many thousands of new ones
are created every year. It looks something like "R=RlRgRqLv" and reminded me
of X-files without the irony. In a film so honestly dedicated to peace, it's
sad they can't see that NASA uses this kind of thing only to deflect our
attention from the fact that it's always been about preparing for, and
waging, war.  (I notice the Bush campaign is resurrecting Star Wars...)

M