Life In The Cosmos

Question 1

Why are closed membranes essential in the development of complex biology ?

Answer 1

The enable the emergence of complex molecules from the surrounding equilibrium

Question 2

The extinction of dinosaurs occurred about 64 million years ago at the boundary between what eras?

Answer 2

Cretaceous and paleogene

Question 3

The most severe extinction occurred 250 million years ago at the boundary between what eras

Answer 3

Permian and Triassic

Question 4

What is life on Earth mainly composed of?

Answer 4

Carbon, oxygen and hydrogen

Question 5

Of the sun were to get 20% hotter what would happen to the habitable zone?

Answer 5

It would move further away from

Question 6

What have probes sent to Mars found?

Answer 6

Ice caps of frozen carbon dioxide and water

Question 7

What are Mars’s outflow channels evidence for?

Answer 7

Vast ancient floods

Question 8

What is believed to be the reason for liquid water under the surface of Europa?

Answer 8

As a result of tidal friction caused by tidal stressing

Question 9

What is the frequency range for the cosmic water hole?

Answer 9

1.4 - 1.7 GHz

Question 10

What is the Fermi paradox?

Answer 10

The lack of signs of alien life despite the high probability of the existence of extraterrestrial life

Question 11

What is the fundamental nuclear reaction in the sun?

Answer 11

Fusion of hydrogen to helium

Question 12

What happens in the accretion phase in the early solar system?

Answer 12

Particles grow by colliding and sticking together

Question 13

On the scale of the geological year, in which the history of earth is compressed to 1 year, how long has human civilisation existed for

Answer 13

3 hours

Question 14

What is the name for a reaction where more energy comes out than was put in?

Answer 14

Exothermic

Question 15

If Earth had no greenhouse gasses, what would happen to the surface temperature?

Answer 15

It would be below freezing

Question 16

Where is the habitable zone?

Answer 16

Beyond the orbit of Venus to inside the orbit of Mars

Question 17

What observation showed that life may have been suitable on Mars?

Answer 17

Dried up river beds

Question 18

Why is Europa a good candidate for the possible existence of life?

Answer 18

It has a deep subsurface ocean of liquid water

Question 19

When were the first planets to orbit around other stars discovered?

Answer 19

At the end of the 20th century

Question 20

For a planet detected by the Doppler technique, what does the repeating pattern of stellar motion tell us

Answer 20

The orbital period

Question 21

For a planet detected by the Doppler technique, what does the repeating pattern of stellar motion tell us

Answer 21

The orbital period

Question 22

What is the source of energy that keeps the sun shining

Answer 22

Nuclear fusion

Question 23

What is accretion in terms of planetary formation?

Answer 23

The growth of planetesimals from smaller solid particles that collided and stick together

Question 24

How did molecular oxygen get into the Earths atmosphere?

Answer 24

It was released through photosynthesis

Question 25

In the geological calendar where the history of the universe is compressed to 1 year, what month did the dinosaurs go extinct?

Answer 25

Late December

Question 26

What was the Cambrian explosion?

Answer 26

A dramatic diversification of life that began about 540million years ago

Question 27

What defines a habitable region around a star?

Answer 27

The region were liquid water can exist

Question 28

What is the primary way that the search for extra terrestrial intelligence (SETI) is carried out?

Answer 28

By using radio telescopes to search for signals from other civilisations