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 6, Problem 22RQ
Briefly describe two main approaches to creating artificial life. Then describe the possibility and potential benefit of constructing computer programs that can mimic the biological functions of cells, and the ethical aspects of making artificial life.
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Which of the following is least reasonable regarding the difficulty in contacting extraterrestrial life using space flight and radio communication.
Group of answer choices
Space flight to the nearest star would take thousands of years with current technology.
Even if another intelligent civilization is within a few hundred light-years of us, conversations would be very slow with a turnaround time of decades or even centuries.
The spacecraft that NASA sent to Proxima Centauri a few years ago should be approaching its target within a decade or two, depending on solar wind conditions.
Earth has been broadcasting at radio wavelengths since the 1930's, so any civilization within a radius of about 100 light-years or so could have received the broadcast by now.
Without some major breakthrough, interstellar space flight is totally impractical.
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.
How can we apply the principles of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection in our everyday life?
Chapter 6 Solutions
Life in the Universe (4th Edition)
Ch. 6 - What are the three lines of fossil evidence that...Ch. 6 - How do studies of DNA sequences allow us to...Ch. 6 - Based on current evidence, what locations on Earth...Ch. 6 - What was the MillerUrey experiment, and how did it...Ch. 6 - What do we mean by an RNA world, and why do...Ch. 6 - Briefly summarize current ideas about the sequence...Ch. 6 - Briefly discuss the possibility that life migrated...Ch. 6 - Why do we think that evolution would have...Ch. 6 - Briefly discuss the early evolution of life, from...Ch. 6 - How do we think that eukaryotes evolved? What time...
Ch. 6 - What was the Cambrian explosion? Briefly discuss...Ch. 6 - How and when did life colonize land? Why did it...Ch. 6 - How do we know that the early Earth could not have...Ch. 6 - Summarize the history of the oxygen buildup as it...Ch. 6 - What was the KT impact, and how is it thought to...Ch. 6 - Briefly discuss the evidence for other mass...Ch. 6 - Discuss the threat that future impacts may pose to...Ch. 6 - Describe several adaptations that evolved so...Ch. 6 - When did hominids arise, and when did modern...Ch. 6 - Briefly describe and clarify a few common...Ch. 6 - Prob. 21RQCh. 6 - Briefly describe two main approaches to creating...Ch. 6 - We discover evidence of life, in the form of a...Ch. 6 - We discover an intact fossil of a eukaryotic cell,...Ch. 6 - We discover a preserved, 3.5-billion-year-old...Ch. 6 - We discover clear evidence that life arose on a...Ch. 6 - We discover a fossil of a large dinosaur that...Ch. 6 - We discover that, contrary to present belief,...Ch. 6 - We discover a crater from the impact of a...Ch. 6 - We discover an asteroid about 300 meters across...Ch. 6 - We find fossil remains of an early primate that...Ch. 6 - The first life created in the laboratory has an...Ch. 6 - The origin of life on Earth most likely occurred...Ch. 6 - The earliest living organisms probably were (a)...Ch. 6 - Prob. 35TYUCh. 6 - RNA world refers to (a) the possibility that life...Ch. 6 - Early life arose in an oxygen-free environment,...Ch. 6 - The oxygen in Earths atmosphere was originally...Ch. 6 - The Cambrian explosion refers to (a) a dramatic...Ch. 6 - Prob. 40TYUCh. 6 - The hypothesis that an impact killed the dinosaurs...Ch. 6 - According to the fossil evidence, modern humans...Ch. 6 - Origin of Life Studies. We cannot go back in time...Ch. 6 - A Brief History of Life on Earth. Take all the...Ch. 6 - Geology and Life. In Chapter 4, we discussed the...Ch. 6 - Prob. 48IFCh. 6 - Prob. 49IFCh. 6 - Impact Movie Review. Watch one of the Hollywood...Ch. 6 - Artificial Life Review. Numerous science fiction...Ch. 6 - Bacterial Evolution. Suppose that a mutation...Ch. 6 - Deep in Bacteria. In Cosmic Calculations 6.1, we...Ch. 6 - Prob. 54IFCh. 6 - Human Population Growth. During the twentieth...Ch. 6 - Impact Energy. Consider a comet about 2 kilometers...Ch. 6 - The Missing Link. As we discussed in this chapter,...Ch. 6 - Evolution by Choice. Consider the technology we...
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