Life in the Universe (4th Edition)
4th Edition
ISBN: 9780134089089
Author: Jeffrey O. Bennett, Seth Shostak
Publisher: PEARSON
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Textbook Question
Chapter 5, Problem 46IF
The Search for Life. Based on what you have learned about life on Earth, what are we searching for when we search for life elsewhere? For example, are we searching only for worlds with surface oceans and oxygen-rich atmospheres like Earth, or for something else? Write one to three paragraphs describing the types of worlds that we can consider as potential homes for life.
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Check out a sample textbook solutionStudents have asked these similar questions
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?
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.
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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- If we do find life on Mars, what might be some ways to check whether it formed separately from Earth life, or whether exchanges of material between the two planets meant that the two forms of life have a common origin?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_forwardMars and Europa are two Solar System bodies that are considered possible habitats for Earth-like life. Why?arrow_forward
- If you represent Earths history by a line that is 1 m long, how long a segment would represent the 400 million years since life first moved onto the land? How long a segment would represent the 4-millionyear history of humanoid life?arrow_forwardMolecules of which gas were needed in Earths atmosphere for life to evolve from living in the sea to living on the land? Why?arrow_forwardWhat is the difference between chemical evolution and biological evolution?arrow_forward
- What is a habitable zone?arrow_forwardWhy was the development of photosynthesis a major milestone in the evolution of life?arrow_forwardWhich of the following is least reasonable regarding the concept of a habitable zone? Group of answer choices M-type stars have wider habitable zones than G-type stars. It is a region around a star where liquid water could be found on a planet's surface. The habitable zone of a less massive star would be closer to the star. In the course of millions of years, our habitable zone will slowly shift from Earth to Mars. The Galactic habitable zone cannot be too close to the Galactic center because the radiation from the bright stars and supernovae in the crowded inner part of the Galaxy would probably be detrimental to life.arrow_forward
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