COSMIC PERSPECTIVE LL FD
9th Edition
ISBN: 9780135877074
Author: Bennett
Publisher: PEARSON
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Chapter 24, Problem 18EAP
For each of the following futuristic scenarios, decide whether it is plausible according to our present understanding of science or whether if is unlikely to be possible. Explain clearly; not all of these have definitive answers, so your explanation is more important than your chosen answer.
18. The first human explorers on Mars drill a hole into a Martian volcano to collect a sample of soil from several meters underground. On analyzing the soil, they discover that it holds living microbes resembling terrestrial bacteria but with a different biochemistry.
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After completing this Lecture Tutorial, students should be able to:
distinguish between scientific hypotheses and nonscientific ideas.
Part 1: Comprehension of Hypotheses
A scientific hypothesis needs to (1) be supported by the majority of current data and (2) be
testable. An alien on Earth is wondering why a rubber ball falls back down to the ground
after it is thrown into the air. It comes up with several ideas about the ball.
a. Gravity is pulling the ball to the ground.
b.
A mystical force that cannot be measured is pushing the ball down.
c.
Earth's magnetic field is pulling on the rubber ball.
1. Which statement is NOT a hypothesis because it is not testable? a b c
2. Which statement is NOT a hypothesis because it is not supported by current data? a b c
3. Which statement IS a scientific hypothesis? a b c
Part 2: Application to Dinosaur Extinction
Below are possible scenarios explaining the extinction of the dinosaurs.
a. Dinosaurs were killed off by a virus.
b. A large meteorite…
The principle cause of our intense interest in Mars in the decades before the dawn of the space age was that
Answers:
A.
a few astronomers believed that they saw evidence of an intelligent civilization on Mars.
B.
Mars has seasons just like the Earth and therefore should be inhabitable by humans.
C.
Mars has an unusual surface color and global dust storms, creating strange weather patterns.
D.
Mars has unusual orbital properties making our understanding of its motion around the Sun very difficult.
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 th
Chapter 24 Solutions
COSMIC PERSPECTIVE LL FD
Ch. 24 - Prob. 1VSCCh. 24 - Prob. 2VSCCh. 24 - Prob. 3VSCCh. 24 - Prob. 4VSCCh. 24 - Prob. 5VSCCh. 24 - Prob. 6VSCCh. 24 - Prob. 1EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 2EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 3EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 4EAP
Ch. 24 - How are laboratory experiments helping us study...Ch. 24 - Prob. 6EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 7EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 8EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 9EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 10EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 11EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 12EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 13EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 14EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 15EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 16EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 17EAPCh. 24 - For each of the following futuristic scenarios,...Ch. 24 - Prob. 19EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 20EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 21EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 22EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 23EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 24EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 25EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 26EAPCh. 24 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 24 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 24 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 24 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 24 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 24 - Prob. 32EAPCh. 24 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 24 - Prob. 34EAPCh. 24 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 24 - Prob. 36EAPCh. 24 - The Turning Point. The end of this chapter...Ch. 24 - Prob. 39EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 43EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 45EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 46EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 47EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 48EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 49EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 50EAPCh. 24 - What’s Wrong with This Picture? Many science...Ch. 24 - Nearest Civilization. Suppose there are 10,000...Ch. 24 - SETI Search. Suppose there are 10,000...Ch. 24 - SETI Signal. Consider a civilization broadcasting...Ch. 24 - Prob. 56EAPCh. 24 - Prob. 57EAP
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- 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…arrow_forwardSuppose astronomers discover a radio message from a civilization whose planet orbits a star 35 lightyears away. Their message encourages us to send a radio answer, which we decide to do. Suppose our governing bodies take 2 years to decide whether and how to answer. When our answer arrives there, their governing bodies also take two of our years to frame an answer to us. How long after we get their first message can we hope to get their reply to ours? (A question for further thinking: Once communication gets going, should we continue to wait for a reply before we send the next message?)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_forward
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