Life in the Universe (4th Edition)
4th Edition
ISBN: 9780134089089
Author: Jeffrey O. Bennett, Seth Shostak
Publisher: PEARSON
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Question
Chapter 5, Problem 38POS
To determine
Explain the way which may help us to determine whether life on Mars shares a common origin with life on Earth.
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Which of the following seems least reasonable regarding life on Earth?
Group of answer choices
There is much scientific evidence suggesting that all creatures living on Earth today appear to have evolved from a common ancestor.
Louis Pasteur discredited the concept of spontaneous generation by demonstrating that even bacteria and other microorganisms arise from parents resembling themselves.
There is ample physical evidence that the earliest life forms on Earth were multicellular creatures, perhaps resembling some of our primitive fish.
When the earth formed some 4.6 billion years ago, it was a lifeless, inhospitable place.
Before the mid-17th century, most people believed that God had created humankind and other higher organisms and that insects, frogs, and other small creatures could arise spontaneously in mud or decaying matter
About billion years into its development, the Earth it was teeming with organisms resembling blue-green algae.
A radio broadcast left Earth in 1911. How far in light years has it traveled?
If there is, on average, 1 star system per 400 cubic light years, how many star systems has this broadcast reached?
Assume that the fraction of these star systems that have planets is 0.50 and that, in a given planetary system, the average number of planets that have orbited in the habitable zone for 4 billion years is 0.20. How many possible planets with life could have heard this signal?
Tutorial
A radio broadcast left Earth in 1923. How far in light
years has it traveled?
If there is, on average, 1 star system per 400 cubic light
years, how many star systems has this broadcast
reached?
Assume that the fraction of these star systems that
have planets is 0.50 and that, in a given planetary
system, the average number of planets that have
orbited in the habitable zone for 4 billion years is 0.40.
How many possible planets with life could have heard
this signal?
Part 1 of 3
To figure out how many light years a signal has
traveled we need to know how long since the signal left
Earth. If the signal left in 1923, distance in light years =
time since broadcast left Earth.
d = tnow - broadcast
d = 97
97 light years
Part 2 of 3
Since the radio signal travels in all directions, it
expanded as a sphere with a radius equal to the
distance it has traveled so far. To determine the
number of star systems this signal has reached, we
need to determine the volume of that sphere.
V, =
Vb…
Chapter 5 Solutions
Life in the Universe (4th Edition)
Ch. 5 - Briefly describe the six key properties that...Ch. 5 - What is natural selection? Summarize the logic by...Ch. 5 - Briefly describe the evidence that points to a...Ch. 5 - Why do we say that living cells are carbon-based?...Ch. 5 - Briefly describe each of the four main classes of...Ch. 5 - Prob. 6RQCh. 5 - What are the three domains of life? Which domain...Ch. 5 - What do we mean by the tree of life? List three...Ch. 5 - What is metabolism, and what are the two basic...Ch. 5 - Why is water so important to life on Earth? List...
Ch. 5 - Describe the double helix structure of DNA. How...Ch. 5 - What is a gene? A genome? The genetic code?Ch. 5 - What are mutations, and what effects can they...Ch. 5 - What are extremophiles? Give several examples of...Ch. 5 - Prob. 15RQCh. 5 - Explain how evolution exhibits each of the three...Ch. 5 - Suppose we found an organism on Earth with the...Ch. 5 - Suppose we found an organism on Earth with the...Ch. 5 - Suppose we found an organism on Earth with the...Ch. 5 - Suppose we found an organism on Earth with the...Ch. 5 - Suppose we found an organism on Earth with the...Ch. 5 - Suppose we found an organism on Earth with the...Ch. 5 - Suppose we found an organism on Earth with the...Ch. 5 - Suppose we found an organism on Earth with the...Ch. 5 - Suppose we found an organism on Earth with the...Ch. 5 - Suppose we found an organism on Earth with the...Ch. 5 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 5 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 5 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 5 - An organisms heredity is encoded in (a) DNA; (b)...Ch. 5 - Prob. 31TYUCh. 5 - Which of the following is not a source of energy...Ch. 5 - People belong to domain (a) eukarya; (b) archaea;...Ch. 5 - Which of the following mutations would you expect...Ch. 5 - Generally speaking, an extremophile is an organism...Ch. 5 - Based on what you have learned in this chapter, it...Ch. 5 - The History of Evolution. Many people assume that...Ch. 5 - Prob. 38POSCh. 5 - Rock Life? How do you know that a rock is not...Ch. 5 - Genetic Variation. One of the underlying facts...Ch. 5 - Artificial Selection. Suppose you lived hundreds...Ch. 5 - Prob. 43IFCh. 5 - Dominant Life. While most of us tend to think of...Ch. 5 - The Human Power to Destroy. We may have the...Ch. 5 - The Search for Life. Based on what you have...Ch. 5 - Prob. 47IFCh. 5 - Atomic Numbers in Life. A typical bacterium has a...Ch. 5 - Oxygen Atoms in People. Figure 5.6 shows that...Ch. 5 - Cellular Energy. A typical eukaryotic cell, such...Ch. 5 - The Genetic Code. Suppose that, as evidence...Ch. 5 - Science and Religion. Science and religion are...Ch. 5 - Computer Life. Although scientists have already...Ch. 5 - Genetic Engineering and Future Evolution. For...Ch. 5 - Prob. 55IF
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Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, physics and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.Similar questions
- What is the difference between chemical evolution and biological evolution?arrow_forwardWhy are we limited to finding life on planets orbiting other stars to situations where the biosphere has created planet-scale changes?arrow_forwardWhat are the three requirements that scientists believe an environment needs to supply life with in order to be considered habitable?arrow_forward
- Why is life unlikely to be found on the surface of Mars today?arrow_forwardIn this chapter, we identify these characteristic properties of life: life extracts energy from its environment, and has a means of encoding and replicating information in order to make faithful copies of itself. Does this definition fully capture what we think of as “life”? How might our definition be biased by our terrestrial environment?arrow_forwardTutorial A radio broadcast left Earth in 1925. How far in light years has it traveled? If there is, on average, 1 star system per 400 cubic light years, how many star systems has this broadcast reached? Assume that the fraction of these star systems that have planets is 0.30 and that, in a given planetary system, the average number of planets that have orbited in the habitable zone for 4 billion years is 0.85. How many possible planets with life could have heard this signal? Part 1 of 3 To figure out how many light years a signal has traveled we need to know how long since the signal left Earth. If the signal left in 1925, distance in light years = time since broadcast left Earth. d = tnow - tbroadcast d = light years Submit Skip (you cannot come back)arrow_forward
- 200 years has passed and now it is year 2220. The Earth is out of basic resourcesas they have been drastically drained in the past 200 years. The president of theUnited World Council (UWC) has approved you and your crew’s Mission toMars. You will pilot the most advanced spaceship the world has ever known, theExcelsior! It will carry equipment that will help to transform Mars so as toresemble the Earth, especially so that it can support human life.Before the mission can launch a few items need to be figured out. What is thecapacity of the fuel tank? How long should the fuel burn to achieve escapevelocity (otherwise the Excelsior will be stuck in the Earth’s gravitational pull)?How long will it take the Excelsior to arrive at Mars?1. The ground crew is filling the fuel tanks. You know tharrow_forwardWhich of the following is not considered a likely solution to the question of why we are not currently aware of an extraterrestrial civilization? Group of answer choices There is no civilization because civilizations are not common. The civilization is probably undetectable to us because it makes use of technologies that do not obey the known laws of physics. There is no galactic civilization because civilizations do not leave their home worlds. There is no civilization because most civilizations destroy themselves before achieving interstellar travel. The civilization is deliberately avoiding contact with us.arrow_forward
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