I just came across the Drake equation which attempts to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy with which we might come in contact. The thing that gets me is how low the answer is! Even if you put high estimates into the equation the answer come out in the 1000′s. That’s a thousand odd civilizations in our entire galaxy! I do think there is intelligent life out there but going by these sorts of estimates we are so amazingly far away from contacting them that we can forget about it for a long long time!