Font size
WorksheetsAliens
Total questions: 33
Worksheet time: 14mins
What is the speed limit of our universe?
The speed of light
there is no limit
7 miles per second
The speed of sound
What does SETI stand for?
strange exoplanet tracking investigation
search for extraterrestrial intelligence
signals of extraterrestrial invariance
saturnian egress tames interstelarity
A mathematical trick for finding an order of magnitude middle value between an overestimate and an underestimate.
geometric mean
arithmetic mean
average
random guess
When attempting to solve a Fermi Question, it is important to first...
look up the answer
identify assumptions and factors
ask someone else for help
try to improve your calculation
Enrico Fermi was famous for...
his popular educational TV series about aliens.
quickly finding solutions to questions with a number answer.
discovering faster-than-light travel.
his love of cats.
The volume of your backpack is closest to...
1 meter^3
1 parsec^3
1 kilometer^3
1 micron^3
The Drake Equation answers the question...
"What is the number of detectable alien civilizations in the Milky Way?"
"How many people are picking their nose right now?"
"What is the shortest time to colonize the Galaxy?"
What is the biggest obstacle to interstellar travel today?
The speed of our spacecraft.
The cost of training our astronauts.
Calculating a trajectory to the nearest stars.
The geometric mean of 2 and 18 is...
1
3
6
12
The apparent contradiction between the estimated high probability of alien life and a lack of evidence for its existence is called...
The Fermi Paradox.
The Goldbach Conjecture.
Fermat's Last Theorem.
The Grandfather Paradox.
Once the interstellar travel problem is solved, estimates suggest that the time needed to colonize the Galaxy is much shorter than the lifetime of the Galaxy.
True
False
When talking about the Drake Equation, we defined detectable civilizations in our galaxy as civilizations that...
have started using light for communications.
have developed a written language.
have started using agriculture for a purpose other than food production.
make use of animals for transportation.
For which of the following Fermi Questions would you try to calculate the average fraction of time spent doing an activity?
What is the maximum number of helium balloons that could be held by a person?
How many people are using Snapchat right now?
What is the weight of a humpback whale divided by the weight of a car?
How many icecream cones could fit inside of a minivan?
Which technology is NOT being considered for future space missions to neighboring stars?
Ion Thursters
Solar Sails
Nuclear Fusion Rockets
The Infinite Improbability Drive
What is an exoplanet?
A planet that orbits a star other than the Sun.
The crunchy outer crust of a rocky planet.
An object that forms part of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
A planet that used to be a star.
One possible resolution to the Fermi Paradox that proposes the Earth has been designated as a sort of nature preserve by aliens that do not wish to interfere with our natural evolution.
The Zoo Hypothesis
The Self Preservation Principle
The Doomsday Hypothesis
A light year (ly) is...
1000 km.
the time for light to travel from the Sun to Pluto.
the distance light travels in one year.
1 million miles.
A poorly understood phenomenon characterized by glowing orbs often associated with thunderstorms is called...
ball lightning.
a ghost.
an alien spacecraft.
a fairy.
_________ clouds can form over the tops of mountains under the right conditions and have been mistaken for alien spacecraft.
Lenticular
Peculiar
Anisotropic
Multidimensional
__________ was a concept for an interstellar spaceship, designed by British thinkers, to make a trip to Barnard's Star using nuclear fusion propulsion.
Project Daedalus
Project Mercury
Project Apollo
Project Icarus
One possible resolution to the Fermi Paradox that proposes the civilizations that develop advanced technologies eventually destroy themselves.
Doomsday Hypothesis
The Fermi Paradox
Roko's Basilisk
Inhospitable Universe Hypothesis
Project Orion was a concept for a spacecraft pushed forward by a series of...
atomic bombs.
oxen.
oxygen.
methane rockets.
The volume of a golf ball is closest to...
1 m^3
10 km^3
1 parsec^3
10 cm^3
Colonization is an exponential process.
True
False
For the purpose of using the Drake Equation, our definition of an advanced civilization is one that has developed...
technologies to communicate across space using electromagnetic waves.
language.
the use of mathematics for describing the natural world.
basic tools.
Which spectral biomarker, characterized by strong reflectance of infrared light, might suggest the presence of plant life on an exoEarth?
red edge
methane
water
ozone
The discovery of _______, a byproduct of photosynthesis, in the atmosphere of an exoplanet could suggest life on other worlds.
carbon
methane
water
oxygen
In Earth's atmosphere, _________ absorption lines are present in part as the byproduct of anaerobic respiration by certain archea.
silicon
methane
water
oxygen
Identify the parent stars that are the least suitable for life.
Short lived, massive stars (O,B,A)
Stellar corpses (Neutron stars, black holes)
Cool stars (M)
Low-mass main sequence stars (F,G,K)
Tidal locking...
occurs when a planet is very close to a parent star.
is thought to be common for planets in the habitable zone around M-type stars.
is beneficial to the development of life on a planets' surface.
is the reason we always see the same side of the moon.
An exoEarth is...
an Earth-like planet outside of our own solar system.
a large planet that has a puffy atmosphere like that of Jupiter or Saturn.
a hot exoplanet in a tight orbit around its host star.
A habitable zone is the orbital region around a star that can support liquid water.
True
False
Which of the following are signs of intelligence?
Use of language.
Ability to reproduce.
Ability to have an existential crisis.
Ability to learn and pass information to the next generation.
Ability to maintain homeostasis.
