Astrobio115 Ch1

1) The discovery of any kind of life beyond the Earth would

• A) cause a profound change in perspective of the whole of humanity
• B) be of interest to all scientists, but of little interest t o the wider public
• C) be of no interest to anyone at all
• D) only be on interest to biologists

2) The portrayal of nearly all aliens in movies and on TV as being humanoid is

• A) based on the fact that it would be impossible for us to understand a nything that wasn't very similar to a human
• B) realistic because the human form has several unique qualities that make it a good choice for any advanced civilization
• C) based on the fact that the human form is the only possible form for an advanced civiliz ation
• D) probably unrealistic because the human form is most likely a result of the particular conditions and events that occurred on the Earth

3) Extraterrestrial life elsewhere in the universe

• A) will be unrecognizable
• B) could be similar to life on Earth or might be completely different
• C) will be identical to life on Earth
• D) will be completely different than life on Earth

4) Extraterrestrial life is defined to be

• A) life found beyond the Earth which is based on the same biology and chemistry as life on Earth
• B) advanced life forms that have visited the Earth
• C) any kind of life found beyond the Earth
• D) advanced life found on Earth - like planets around other stars

5) Humanity has been thinking about the possibility of extraterrestrial life

• A) since the first reports of unidentified flying objects in the 1940's
• B) since reports of canals on Mars were first made in the 1870's
• C) throughout human history since the time of the ancient Greeks

6) Which three branches of science are most important in our study of life in the universe?

• A) physics, mathematics, and astronomy
• B) astronomy, planetary science, and biology
• C) planetary science, biology, and mathematics
• D) biology, mathematics, and physics

7) For most of human history it was believed that the Earth was at the center of the universe. This idea is referred to as

• A) heliocentric
• B) egocentric
• C) geocentric
• D) stellocentric

8) Astronomy has shown us that the Earth

• A) occupies a special lo cation in the universe so that life elsewhere is unlikely
• B) is the only planet in the universe with any kind of life
• C) is the only planet in the universe with advanced life
• D) is just one planet orbiting an ordinary star in a vast universe

9) Astronomy has shown us that the fundamental laws of physics are

• A) the same everywhere in the universe
• B) the same in our solar system but different beyond the solar system
• C) completely random and unpredictable
• D) different on other planets in our solar system

10) The discovery of extrasolar planets indicates that planets around other stars are

• A) all Earth - like
• B) nonexistent
• C) common
• D) relatively rare