Extra cards Flashcards
What was the lunar study and what did it lead to?
A Lunar Study Steering Group (LSSG) was set up 1990 to study scientific justifications for a return to the Moon: “Science of the Moon” and “Science from the Moon”. About 50 external scientists in about 10 separate groups.
Studies of:
Astrometry (resulted in GAIA proposal),
Interferometry (led to Darwin study), with the purpose of finding other Earths
Low-frequency astrometry (implemented today as LOFAR)
Solar Physics
Particle physics
– And a First encounter with “Exobiology!’
What was the goal of DARWIN?
The goal of Darwin was to find rocky planets with an atmosphere out of photo-chemical balance and take spectra of them.
What is the working chemical definition of life?
Working definition: Life ≡ O3 + H2O + CO2
Ideally, detect reduced molecules (CH4, N2O) as well
What is one of the biggest problems in astrophysics regarding finding exoplanets?
The star is millions times brighter than a small terrestrial planet.
What were the objectives of CoRoT?
COROT (photometer) has two design objectives:
- Searching for planets of a type similar to our own Earth - Studying the inner parts of stars by measuring the changes in light output caused by acoustical sound waves travelling through the star.
What was the KEPLER mission?
The Kepler space telescope was a space telescope launched by NASA to discover Earth-size planets orbiting other stars.
What are some possible “solutions” to schrödinger’s paradox?
Life is not an isolated system
The increase of order inside an organism is compensated more than enough by the increase in disorder outside this organism. The highly ordered state, is sustained by causing a net increase in disorder in the Universe.
The complexity on Earth caused by life requires energy mostly provided by the Sun and supernova (radioactivity) 🡺 increases entropy more than life diminish it
In conclusion we live in close connection with the universe and not separate.
How old is the earth?
4.6 GyR
Difference between weathering and erosion?
Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils, minerals, wood, living things and even artificial elements by water or biological agents
Erosion is the transportation of rocks, minerals by wind, water, ice, snow, waves, gravity
How did the organisms in the sea adapt to snowball earth?
Evolving enzymes that could mitigate damage from molecular oxygen and hydroxyl radicals. We can see this in our DNA today and that if we don’t get vitamin C we dies within a few months.
Why was the first global glaciation important?
First mass extinction
Oxygen free -> oxygen rich, life had to adapt.
What caused each of the 5 global exctinctions?
Ordovician - glaciation then melting, climate change
Devonian - Slow, significant volcanic activity in siberia -> lower ocean oxygen levels
Permian - Volcanic activity siberia acidifying the oceans, shredding ozone layer, radiation. Big one 96%.
Triassic - Same as permian but mid atlantic volcanic activity. 80%. Dinosaurs take over.
Cretaceous - Solar system material slams into mexican gulf
