A new theoretical model, inspired by the famous Drake Equation, offers insights into the likelihood of intelligent life emerging in our universe—and potentially in other hypothetical universes. The Drake Equation, developed by astronomer Dr. Frank Drake in the 1960s, aimed to estimate the number of detectable alien civilizations in the Milky Way. Now, over 60 years later, astrophysicists at Durham University have crafted a new approach that examines factors like the universe’s expansion and star formation rate, influenced by a mysterious force called dark energy. Dark energy, making up over two-thirds of our universe, drives its accelerated expansion. Since stars are necessary for life as we know it, this new model estimates the probability of life emerging in both our universe and others, based on varying levels of dark energy. Instead of calculating the exact number of life-bearing planets, it compares the odds of an intelligent observer existing in universes with different properties. This model suggests that a typical observer might expect a universe with higher dark energy density than ours. The study, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, reveals that dark energy’s influence impacts the formation of stars and galaxies, essential for life. In universes with the most efficient star formation, around 27% of matter would become stars—slightly higher than the 23% seen in our own universe. Dr. Daniele Sorini from Durham University explains that dark energy’s role in expanding the universe, balanced by gravity’s pull, enables the creation of stable regions where stars and planets can form and life can evolve. This study indicates that even higher levels of dark energy could still support life, implying our universe’s particular conditions are rare but not necessarily ideal for intelligent life. This research could help scientists explore how different dark energy densities affect cosmic structures and the potential for life across other universes, challenging our understanding of existence. The post New ‘Life Equation’ Estimates the Chances of Intelligent Alien Life appeared first on Anomalien.com.

We’re all eagerly awaiting the launch of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, and we always knew this new gaming GPU wouldn’t be cheap, but it looks as though the price of this graphics card will be even higher than we expected. According to this leak, the RTX 5090 is going to cost significantly more than its predecessor, the RTX 4090. Although Nvidia hasn’t officially revealed the RTX 5090 launch date yet, the company is widely expected to unveil it at the CES trade show in January 2025. With AMD leaving the high-end GPU market to Nvidia for the moment, the 5090 is very likely to be the best graphics card for gaming when it comes out, but you’re going to have to pay a lot of money to bag this flagship graphics card. Continue reading The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 price just leaked, and it’s eye-wateringly high MORE FROM PCGAMESN: GeForce RTX 4070 Super review, DLSS explained, Best graphics cards

More than eight years since it launched, Hearts of Iron 4 remains the go-to WW2 strategy game on Steam. The sprawling, in-depth recreation of World War II from Stellaris and Crusader Kings makers Paradox Interactive still pulls more players than its contenders, and it’s about to get even bigger. Launching today, new HoI 4 DLC Götterdämmerung focuses on Germany and some of the countries in closest proximity to it, giving you entirely new ways to steer the nations through the globe-spanning conflict. Continue reading Hearts of Iron 4 DLC gives Germany new alternate history paths through WW2 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: The best Hearts of Iron 4 mods, Hearts of Iron 4 DLC guide, The best grand strategy games on PC

Right now you can save $450 on the cost of a brand new, seriously powerful Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 gaming laptop, with some pretty impressive hardware wrapped in a gorgeous RGB-illuminated chassis. The 30% saving on offer makes this gaming laptop deal an absolute steal for the price, especially with its Intel Core i9 14900HX CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU combo. Acer produces some of the best gaming laptop designs you can buy right now, but it’s a real surprise to see an Acer gaming laptop with this spec for just $1,049.99. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 inside this machine will have no trouble with 1080p gaming, even with ray tracing enabled, thanks to its support for Nvidia DLSS 3, and there won’t be any bottlenecks either, thanks to the huge 24-core Intel Core i9 14900HX CPU powering it. Continue reading Grab this Acer Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 gaming laptop at a ridiculously low price MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best gaming monitor

As I sit here, typing away on my Secretlab Fatalis chair, I think it's safe to say that I’m quite the Monster Hunter fan. Of course, that means that I’m eager to dive into Monster Hunter Wilds as soon as it arrives next year, and if you’re as excited as I am about the next installment in Capcom's long-running saga, I've got just the deal for you. Continue reading Monster Hunter Wilds gets best pre-order discount ahead of launch MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Monster Hunter Wilds monsters, Monster Hunter Wilds system requirements, Monster Hunter Wilds release date

One of the longest side quests in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the "Regrets of the Dread Wolf," which requires the player to find 5 Wolf Statuettes scattered across the world of Thedas.

In Six Days in Fallujah, your job as the team leader is to make the best of your fire team. Doing this requires understanding the commands the game provides you with, and the roles within the fire team.

During the climax of Chapter 4 in Life Is Strange: Double Exposure, while Max and Safi plan their scheme of exposing Lucas at the Krampus Party, there's also an optional objective that you can do simultaneously.

In the AI chatbot world, ubiquity is everything. Companies have raced to build desktop and mobile apps for their bots, in order to both give them new capabilities but also to make sure they’re right in front of your face as often as possible. There’s no better example of that than Google’s new Gemini app for iPhone, which quietly hit the App Store around the world this week. The free app is simple and straightforward: it’s just a chat window and a list of your previous chats. You can query the bot with text, voice, or your camera, and it’ll give you answers. It’s effectively identical to the Gemini section of the Google app, or what you’d get by opening a browser and going to the Gemini website. The Gemini app does have one newish... Continue reading…