Deck 24: Life in the Universe

Question 1

The earliest evidence for life on Earth dates to

A)about 4.5 billion years ago.
B)about 3.8 billion years ago.
C)about 2 billion years ago.
D)about 570 million years ago.
E)about 65 million years ago.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Why didn't oxygen begin to accumulate in the atmosphere until approximately 1.5 billion years after life appeared on Earth?

A)Early forms of animal life consumed the oxygen.
B)Early forms of plant life consumed oxygen.
C)All the oxygen produced by life went into making the ozone layer.
D)Oxygen produced by life was removed from the atmosphere by oxidation reactions with surface rocks.
E)Oxygen produced by life was removed from the atmosphere by dissolving in the ocean.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

After Mars,the next most likely candidates for life in the solar system are

A)Oort-cloud comets.
B)the jovian planets.
C)the large moons of the jovian planets.
D)asteroids.
E)Kuiper-belt comets.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

What was the Cambrian explosion?

A)the impact of the meteor that led to mass extinction of the dinosaurs
B)the initial spark of lightning that created the first life-form from amino acids
C)the eruption of the volcano known as Cambria on the ancient supercontinent of Pangaea
D)a dramatic diversification of life that began about 540 million years ago
E)the largest mass extinction in Earth's history

Question 5

In the equation: Number of Civilizations =Np × flife × fcivilization × fnow
What do we mean by fnow?

A)the fraction of planets with civilizations on which the civilizations exist now
B)the fraction of time since the Big Bang represented by the present era
C)the fraction of all species ever to exist that we currently are aware of
D)the fraction of planets in the galaxy on which a civilization could theoretically develop now
E)the fraction of civilizations in the universe that currently are sending messages to us

Question 6

What defines the habitable zone around a star?

A)the region around a star where rocky planets form
B)the region around a star where humans can survive
C)the region around a star where liquid water can potentially exist on planetary surfaces
D)the region around a star where the ultraviolet radiation does not destroy organisms on a planetary surface
E)the region around a star where life exists

Question 7

Which of the following gases,which we might be able to detect in infrared spectra,would be a strong indicator of life on another planet?

A)carbon dioxide
B)ozone
C)methane
D)water vapor
E)sulfuric acid

Question 8

Why do some scientists think that Jupiter's existence may have been critical for life to evolve on Earth?

A)It prevented Earth from migrating outward and thus ensured a stable climate.
B)It prevented Earth from migrating inward and thus ensured a stable climate.
C)It kicked out many comets from the inner solar system through gravitational encounters,thus limiting the number of objects that could potentially hit the inner planets.
D)Meteorites from Jupiter may contain bacteria that started life on Earth.
E)It stabilized Earth's axis tilt and thus ensured a stable climate.

Question 9

The analysis of Martian rocks on Earth show that they contain

A)tantalizing but unconfirmed hints of life.
B)bacteria with closely related DNA to bacteria on Earth.
C)bacteria with very different DNA from bacteria on Earth.
D)water ice.
E)chemical byproducts of life.

Question 10

How does the Kepler mission plan to detect Earth-like planets around other stars?

A)by measuring the Doppler shift in spectral lines as the central star is tugged to and fro by the planet
B)by observing the slight dip in brightness of the central star as the planet transits
C)by directly imaging the planet
D)by observing the spectrum of the planet
E)by measuring the slight shift in position of the central star as it is tugged to and fro by the planet

Question 11

Where have scientists begun a concerted search for life outside of Earth?

A)the Moon
B)Venus
C)Mars
D)Jupiter
E)Titan

Question 12

Which of the following is the most important for maintaining a stable climate on Earth over the time it took for large organisms to evolve?

A)sustained volcanic activity
B)the cessation of the heavy bombardment phase
C)plate tectonics
D)the Moon
E)underground sea vents

Question 13

When did the extinction of the dinosaurs occur?

A)about 3.5 billion years ago
B)about 2 billion years ago
C)540 million years ago
D)65 million years ago
E)less than 1 million years ago

Question 14

What is absolutely necessary for living organisms to survive?

A)energy
B)sunlight
C)oxygen
D)food in the form of other organisms
E)all of the above

Question 15

Which of the following causes mutations in living organisms?

A)natural selection
B)a changing environment
C)reproduction
D)ultraviolet light and toxic chemicals
E)the greenhouse effect

Question 16

Which living organisms most resemble the common ancestor of all life according to genetic testing?

A)bacteria such as E.coli
B)organisms living deep in the oceans around seafloor volcanic vents and in hot springs
C)plankton that use sunlight as an energy source through photosynthesis
D)viruses
E)stromatolites

Question 17

Which of the following statements about ozone (in Earth's stratosphere)is not true?

A)The presence of ozone was crucial to the origin of life.
B)If the ozone layer is depleted,we can expect the rate of mutations in land-based life-forms to increase significantly.
C)Ozone absorbs ultraviolet light from the Sun.
D)The ozone hole occurring each spring over Antarctica appears to be caused by human-made CFCs.

Question 18

Why do some scientists say that the Moon may have been important for the evolution of human life?

A)It created the tides in the ocean,where life most likely started.
B)It stabilized Earth's axis tilt and prevented large climate changes.
C)Meteorites from the Moon were the seeds of life on Earth.
D)It gave humans the inspiration to explore worlds beyond Earth.
E)It most certainly wasn't-only lunatics would think so.

Question 19

When did oxygen begin to accumulate in the atmosphere?

A)as soon as Earth was formed
B)about 2 billion years ago
C)about 200 million years ago
D)as soon as the early bombardment ended
E)as soon as life appeared

Question 20

The only place outside of Earth where there is irrefutable evidence for (ancient,microbial)life is

A)the Moon.
B)Mars.
C)Europa.
D)Titan.
E)None of the above-there is no irrefutable evidence for life beyond Earth.

Question 21

Oxygen did not build up in the atmosphere as soon as life began to produce it because the oxygen was pulled back out of the atmosphere by reactions with surface rocks.

Question 22

In 1974,a radio message was sent out from the Arecibo observatory in Puerto Rico.How far has it gotten,approximately?

A)just beyond our Solar System
B)not even to the nearest stars
C)just a miniscule fraction of the distance across the Milky Way
D)almost to the center of the Milky Way
E)beyond the Milky Way,to the Andromeda galaxy

Question 23

Which of the following statements best reflects our current knowledge about the term flᵢfₑ in the equation Number of Civilizations == Np × flife × fcivilization × fnow?

A)The value of flᵢfₑ must be either 0 percent or 100 percent.
B)The value of flᵢfₑ is between 0 percent and 100 percent.
C)The value of flᵢfₑ is between 0 percent and 1 percent.
D)The value of flᵢfₑ is roughly 50 percent.
E)The value of flᵢfₑ is presently unknown but should be well known within just a few years.

Question 24

The habitable zone around a star refers to the places where living organisms are found.

Question 25

Which of the following best explains why an interstellar ramjet could,in theory,achieve continuous acceleration?

A)It uses fuel that is more efficient than any other known fuel.
B)It collects its fuel as it goes,rather than having to carry the weight of fuel along with it.
C)It takes advantage of theoretically possible loopholes in Einstein's theory of relativity.
D)It has such a large fuel tank that it will essentially never use up all the fuel it carries.
E)Its speed always gets faster because the effects of time dilation change the rate at which time flows.

Question 26

The rise of life on the planet Earth some 4 billion years ago was made possible,in part,by the plentiful oxygen in Earth's early atmosphere.

Question 27

Which of the following statements about matter-antimatter engines is not true?

A)Matter-antimatter reactions represent the most efficient reactions possible in terms of energy release.
B)Matter-antimatter engines would be great in theory,but to date we have no evidence that antimatter even exists.
C)One of the major challenges to developing matter-antimatter engines is finding a way to produce enough antimatter.
D)One of the major challenges to developing matter-antimatter engines is finding a way to store antimatter after it is produced.
E)Spacecraft powered by matter-antimatter engines could probably reach speeds of more than half the speed of light.

Question 28

At about what fraction of the speed of light do today's spacecraft travel?

A)1/2
B)1/10
C)1/100
D)1/1,000
E)1/10,000

Question 29

Which of the following describes a major danger of interstellar travel at near light speed?

A)Any interstellar journey will take much longer than the lives of the crew members.
B)Time dilation will slow the heartbeats of the crew to a dangerously low rate.
C)Atoms and ions in interstellar space will hit a fast-moving spacecraft like a flood of dangerous cosmic rays.
D)Asteroid fields floating in interstellar space will present a navigational challenge.
E)Supernova explosions will destroy spaceships passing nearby.

Question 30

Even if Martian meteorites contained life,the life could not possibly have survived the journey from Mars to Earth.

Question 31

The two Voyager spacecraft carry a message from Earth,just in case an alien civilization ever runs across them.

Question 32

The abundance of oxygen and ozone in Earth's atmosphere can be explained only through biology.

Question 33

We have already launched at least four spacecraft that are bound for interstellar space.

Question 34

At present,what is the primary way that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI)is carried out?

A)by searching for planets around distant stars
B)by using large X-ray telescopes to search for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations
C)by using radio telescopes to search for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations
D)by analyzing high-resolution images of nearby stars in search of evidence of structures that could not have developed naturally
E)by seeking access to the secret records and alien corpses kept at Area 51

Question 35

We have already launched a spacecraft bound for Alpha Centauri.

Question 36

If we develop spacecraft that can take humans to nearby solar systems at a few percent of the speed of light,how long would it be before we could conceivably populate all habitable planets in the entire Milky Way?

A)a few hundred thousand years
B)a few million years
C)a few hundreds of millions of years
D)a few billion years
E)We could never colonize the galaxy unless we had ships that could travel very close to the speed of light.

Question 37

Genetic studies indicate that every living organism on Earth today shares a common ancestor.

Question 38

Which of the following is not considered a likely solution to the question of why we are not currently aware of a galactic civilization?

A)There is no galactic civilization because civilizations are not common.
B)There is no galactic civilization because civilizations do not leave their home worlds.
C)The galactic civilization is deliberately avoiding contact with us.
D)The galactic civilization probably is undetectable to us because it makes use of technologies that do not obey the known laws of physics.
E)There is no galactic civilization because most civilizations destroy themselves before achieving interstellar travel.

Question 39

The Voyager I and II spacecraft visited the jovian planets in the 1980s.When will they reach the distance of the nearest stars?

A)in our lifetime
B)in our children's lifetime
C)in our grandchildren's lifetime
D)about a hundred thousand years from now
E)about a million years from now

Question 40

What type of rocket engine is used by the Space Shuttle?

A)chemical rocket
B)nuclear rocket
C)matter-antimatter rocket
D)ramjet
E)beamed energy propulsion

Question 41

If they existed,and if they were watching,a civilization at the center of the Milky Way could have detected our first TV signals by now.

Question 42

Briefly explain the purpose of the equation
Number of Civilizations =Np × flife × fcivilization × fnow.

Question 43

If we detected an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone around another star,describe how we might learn whether it contained life.

Question 44

Briefly explain the meaning of each term in the equation
Number of Civilizations = Np × flife × fcivilization × fnow.

Question 45

Process of Science: The Fermi paradox shows that there can be no successful theory that predicts how common life is in the Universe.

Question 46

If the Space Shuttle were given a much larger fuel tank,it could achieve speeds of about 90 percent of the speed of light.

Question 47

"Super-Earths" may be habitable at distances much greater from their star than
Earth.

Question 48

It is possible that life exists on orphan planets,even though they do not orbit a star.

Question 49

Why might the presence of a giant planet be both good and bad news for life on a terrestrial planet in another solar system?

Question 50

Why is ozone so crucial to the continued well-being of life on Earth?

Question 51

What is the evidence that suggests planetary systems are common in the universe?

Question 52

During the 1960s and 1970s,scientists designed a spacecraft based on nuclear propulsion,but it was never built.

Question 53

If the carbon isotope evidence does indicate life 3.85 billion years ago,it suggests that life must have been widespread at that point.

Question 54

One idea for interstellar spacecraft involves harnessing energy from nuclear bombs detonated in space.

Question 55

We are unlikely to find fossil evidence of life from more than 3.5 billion years ago because there is no way life existed before then.

Question 56

Despite being only a medium-size moon,Enceladus may have subsurface habitable zones.

Question 57

It is possible that there are moons within habitable zones that have habitable surfaces in other solar systems.

Question 58

Although antimatter is an interesting theoretical idea,there is no evidence that it actually exists.

Question 59

The Kepler mission searches for Earth-like planets by looking for the dip in the brightness of a star as such a planet transited across it.Why does this technique actually miss the vast majority of planets?

Question 60

Suppose a future telescope is able to take a spectrum of a terrestrial planet around another star and reveals the presence of significant amounts of ozone.What would this mean,and why?

Question 61

Which of the following best describes what we mean by a habitable world?

A)a planet or moon that could support life,if any life happened to be on it
B)a planet or moon with life
C)a planet or moon that lies within its star's habitable zone
D)a planet or moon on which humans could survive if we happened to go there

Question 62

Process of Science: Are those who advocate creationism or "intelligent design" following the scientific method? Defend your answer.

Question 63

Why is the discovery of ice fountains on Enceladus so important?

Question 64

Which of the following is considered by biologists to be a likely place where life first arose on Earth?

A)on meteorites that landed on Earth
B)on land surfaces that got moderately heavy rainfall
C)in hot water near undersea volcanoes
D)deep underground

Question 65

What is a mutation?

A)a change in an organism that turns it into a different species
B)a change in the type of food an organism consumes
C)a change in a living cell's DNA
D)a change in the physical appearance of a living organism

Question 66

Process of Science: Explain the phrase used by Carl Sagan,"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

Question 67

If you were in charge of NASA and wanted to fund a mission to search for life elsewhere,what type of mission would you choose? Would you travel to someplace in the solar system (what place?),look for evidence remotely in distant solar systems,listen for alien contact,or something else entirely? Explain what you would do,defend why that is your favored approach,and tell what you would hope to find.

Question 68

Briefly explain the paradox of the question "Where are the aliens?"

Question 69

Which of the following places is not generally considered a potential home for life in our solar system?

A)Mars
B)Jupiter's atmosphere
C)Europa
D)Titan

Question 70

Briefly summarize current knowledge about the term flᵢfₑ in the equation
Number of Civilizations =Np × flife × fcivilization × fnow.

Question 71

Based on DNA studies,it seems that all life on Earth

A)belongs to one of just two kingdoms: plants and animals.
B)arose from one of five distinct ancestors that lived about two billion years ago.
C)requires oxygen to survive.
D)shares a common ancestor.

Question 72

Process of Science: Since the Drake equation does not give us a clear answer on how many aliens we expect to find,why it is useful scientifically?

Question 73

Briefly summarize current knowledge about the term Np in the equation
Number of Civilizations =Np × flife × fcivilization × fnow.

Question 74

According to fossil evidence,how far back in time did life on Earth exist?

A)about 65 million years
B)about 545 million years
C)about 2.0 billion years
D)about 3.5 billion years or more

Question 75

Why do scientists say that evolution is a "theory"?

A)because it explains a great deal about life and is supported by an enormous body of evidence
B)because they are not very confident that it really happened
C)because it's really just a guess about how life developed on Earth
D)because it is supported by only a small amount of evidence

Question 76

How did oxygen (O₂)get into Earth's atmosphere?

A)It was captured from the solar nebula.
B)It was outgassed from volcanoes.
C)It came from chemical reactions with surface rocks.
D)It was released by life through the process of photosynthesis.

Question 77

Which of the following is not considered crucial for life to exist on some world?

A)liquid water
B)a source of energy that can be used by life
C)a source of nutrients
D)an atmosphere

Question 78

How is it possible that orphan planets are potentially habitable,even though they do not orbit a star?

Question 79

Explain how it is possible that there are moons within habitable zones that have habitable surfaces in other solar systems given that no such thing exists in our own solar system.

Question 80

What evidence do we have that life arose quickly?