I figure with telescopes and other instruments in space we will have a much clearer picture of our stellar neighborhood at least out to several dozen light years. We should be able to detect biospheres at that distance, earth like analogs over a statistically significant potion of our galaxy, enough to make inferences. We would do this by spectroscopic examination of an exoplanet's atmosphere, looking for free oxygen and other by products of life including things like natural fires or even industrial pollution.
We will have the ability to image exoplanets and know what is in a star system without going there, even if we could. I expect this picture to emerge over the next 30 years and it will help answer if there is anybody or anything else alive out there. We will have a sample of the galaxy by then, enough of one to draw conclusions or rework the
Drake equation with more solid numbers on the prevalence of life. Other factors are becoming know better in the Drake equation, a simple linear formula for structured speculation. It was the basis for an agenda of an early meeting on SETI in the early 60's.
Have some fun and plug in yer own numbers to come up with startrek!
A simple online calculator to estimate how many alien civilizations we might be able to contact.
www.spacecentre.nz
A team led by researchers at the University of Montreal has found evidence that two exoplanets orbiting a red dwarf star are “water worlds,” where water makes up a large fraction of the entire planet. These worlds, located in a planetary system 218 light-years away in the constellation Lyra, are...
www.nasa.gov