I've long thought that the Drake equation in its original was too fuzzy on some parameters, and both the original and various tweaks were too optimistic. It's kind of like Gnu Atheism, I think. There, many Gnus are also Jesus mythicists, like they have to prove his nonexistence to prove atheism.
With SETI types, it's like they have to prove the existence of life on other planets to disprove creationism.
Well, one potential misassumption, which I didn't think of before, but pointed out recently by Nautilus, is that perhaps the speed of evolution is different in various places, and so many otherwise Earthlike planets may simply have not gotten reasonably intelligent life developed before their sun went to red giant and then steps beyond.
Or, the flip side is true. Due to loss of information about evolution here on Earth, we may assume certain key steps were unique and they actually weren't.
The flip side to both of these flip sides is that SETI searches appear to assume biological development elsewhere will in general be relatively Earthlike.
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A new gel that can actually rebuild tooth enamel? Huge if it can be brought to market. Especially huge for the "developing world" if that's true and also capitalists don't try to charge an arm and a leg. Here's why:
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 3.7 billion people worldwide have some form of oral disease, and the erosion of enamel – the tough, mineralized protective outer layer of our teeth – is a massive contributor to one of the largest issues, tooth decay.
Even in the developed world, even in countries more enlightened than the US with some sort of national health care, dental care is usually NOT part of the bag. It is for minor children and/or senior citizens in some countries and that's it.
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