Midterm Exam

Week 3: Monday, September 8th: Introduction and Review of Syllabus; Introduction: What is Astrobiology?; Week 4: Monday, September 15th: What is Life?; Week 6: Monday, September 29th: How Did Earth and Its Biosphere Originate? (PART I); Week 7: Monday, October 6th: How Did Earth and Its Biosphere Originate? (PART II); Week 8: Tuesday, October 14th: How Have Earth and Its Biosphere Evolved? (PART I); Week 9: Friday, October 24th: How Have Earth and Its Biosphere Evolved? (PART II)

the study of life in the universe that investigates the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life on Earth, combines knowledge and information fro astronomy, chemistry, geochemistry, bio chemistry, biology, space technology, geology, and planetary sciences

astrobiology

This Greek philosopher proposed natural explanations for natural phenomena; he proposed that the universe consisted of water and that Earth was a flat disk on an infinite ocean

Thales

the early Greek model depicting a central earth surrounded by the celestial sphere

Geocentric Revolution

This Greek philosopher proposed an alternative idea to the geocentric revolution to explain the retrograde motion of planets

Aristarchus

this idea, proposed by Aristarchus, depicts the earth revolving around the sun

the heliocentric idea

the revival of Aristarchus’s idea of a sun-centered system by Nicolaus Copernicus, who worked out the math to support it

Copernican Revolution

astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher who made major contributions to the scientific revolution, and to the telescope—wich led to astronomical observations and support for copernicaism

Galileo Galilei

this individual debunked Copernicus’s belief that “heavenly motion” must occur in perfect circles, thus discovering that planetary orbits are elliptical (oval). his model was then developed into three laws

Johannes Kelper

“the orbit of each planet about the sun is an ellipse with the sun at one focus” describes Kepler’s _______

first law

“as the planet moves around its orbit, it moves faster when closer to the sun than when farther away” describes Kepler’s _______

second law

“more distant planets orbit the sun more slowly” describes Kepler’s _______

third law

_______ invented calculus to explain and discoveredr many fundamental principles of physics

Issac Newton

true or false: Issac Newton explained why the planets should move in elliptical orbits at varying speeds

true

Newton’s publication of Principia included precise mathematical descriptions of how motion works in general, and is now called _______

Newton’s Laws of Motion

“an object in motion stays in motion at the same velocity in a straight line inless a force acts to change its speed/direction” describes Newton’s _______ of motion

First law

“force = mass x acceleration” describes Newton’s _______ of Motion

Second Law

“for any force, there is always an equal and opposite reaction force” describes Newton’s _______ of Motion

Newton’s Third Law of Motion

true or false: Newton’s laws still apply to concents such as black holes and gravitational waves

false. Newton’s laws break down when you get to concepts like black holes and gravitational waves

Issac Newton expressed the force of gravity mathematically with his law of _______, which states that every mass attracts every other mass through the force (gravity)

universal gravitation

Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that the greater the mass of an object, the greater is its _______

force of gravity

Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that the force of gravity depends on _______

the distance between two objects (smaller distance = greater force of gravity)

true or false: Issac Newton’s theory of gravity led to predictive advances, such as Halley’s comet return

true

the physicist who developed the General Theory of Relativity, which states that all objects reside in a fourth-dimensional spacetime

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity states that spacetime is curved by massive objects (the sun), and other objects (the planets) _______

follow the curvature

true or false: Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity does not predict the existence of black holes (multiple types)

false. Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity does predict the existence of black holes (multiple types)

10-5 million years ago, _______ developed

Bipedalism

4.2-4 million years ago, _______ emerged; they used simple tools (sticks and stones)

Australopithecus

2-1.5 million years ago, _______ emerged and had the following characteristics:

1. They used more advanced stone tools

2. known as handymen

Homo balilis

2-0.1 million years ago, _______ emerged and had the following characteristics:

1.  “upright men”

first to evolve a human-like body plan and gait

used large advanced stone tools (spears)

first hominid to use fire (warmth, cooking, defense)

homo erectus

400,000-40,000 years ago, _______ emerged and had the following characteristics:

1. closest extinct human relative

2. lived in Europe/Central Asia

3. large nose for humidifying/warming cold, dry air

4. short/stocky

5. used sophisticated tools

6. controlled fire

7. lived in shelters

8. fashioned clothing

9. skilled hunters

10. buried their dead

11. made ornamental objects

homo neanderthalensis

the _______ were Sumerian ski dieties, depicted in Akkadian cylinder seal around 2,300 BC

Anunnaki

_______ were Mayan sky gods during the classical period

Itzamna

_______ (Nevada) and _______, New Mexico are alleged UFO crash sites in the U.S. since 1940

Area 51 and Roswell

The Native American _______ was known to predict alien arrival (“star beings”) who come from the sky to teach mankind

Hopi Dancer

the _______ people of Mali in West Africa impart wisdom from the cosmos: eppiptical orbit of Sirius B around Sirius A

Dogon

_______ and _______ are neolithic monuments reflecting ancient Druid cosmology with significant alighments with celestial events like solstices, suggesting their use in observatories or calendars

Stonehenge and Newgrange

order is a property of life that can be broken down into _______ and _______

bilateral symmetry and radial symmetry

_______ is a property of life in which reproductive success results from inherited triaits

evolutinary adaptations

_______ is a property of life in which organisms respond to stimuli in the environment

responses to the environment

_______ is a property of life in which reguation of internal levels in relation to the outsid occurs

homeostasis

_______ is a property of life in which energy is obtain and processed

energy processing

_______ is a property of life in which organisms experience gradual changes from embryo to adult

growth and development

_______ is a property of life in which organisms pass genes onto to offspring

reproduction

true or false: viruses are considered alive because they can reproduce/replicate without a host

viruses aren’t considered alive because they can’t reproduce/replicate without a host

_______ claimed evolution occured through _______, adapting to different lifestyles, developing traits that are best suited for inheritance

Charles Darwin, nautural selection

true or false: animals have no cell wall, but have a cell membrane and nucleus

true

true or false: plants have a cell wall, chloroplasts for photosynthesis, and chlorophyll for pigment

true

carbon molecules assocaited with life are _______, and form bonds with _______

organic molecules, hydrogen

_______ have two sugar molecules attached

glycosidic bond

_______ has a phosphate group attached to a pentose sugar

phosphodiester bond

_______ has 2 or more amino acids

peptide bond

_______ has a glycerol group and 3 fatty acids and triglyceride

ester bond

_______ makes up oxygenic photosynthetic species

bacteria domain

_______ make up hyperthermophilic species

archaea domain

_______ make up anoxygenic photosynthetic species

eukarya domain

_______ are organisms that can survive extreme environments

extremophiles

_______ are extremeophiles that are bacteria and can survive dryness and radiation

deinococcus radiodurans

_______ are extremophiles that cause anthrax, and can survive lack of water, extreme heat/cold, and toxins

bacteria subtilis

_______ are extremophiles that are animals and can survive a wide range of environments (extremotolerant)

tardigrades

the _______, proposed by Georges Lemaitre in 1931, describes how the uniiverse expanded from high density and temperature compressed matter about 14 billion years ago

big bang theory

_______ is composed of the sum of all matter and energy, superclusters, voids, and everything within it

the universe

planets are within a _______, which is the sun an dits orbiting objects (planets, their moons, smalle robjects [asteroids, comets])

solar system 

merry, venus, earth, and mars are _______ planets, whereas jupiter, uranus, and neptule are _______ planets

terrestrial/rocky, jovian/gas

_______ contain solar systems, gas, dust, and billions of stars, which are located in the local galactic group 

galaxies 

_______ are large groups of galaxies bound together by gravity

local superclusters

the _______ is the shpherical region of the universe (all mater) visible from earth

observable universe 

interstellar distances are measured in light years; 1 light year = the distance that light can travel in 1 year, which is _______

10 trillion kilometers (km)

_______ is the closest star system to our planet, and is 4.4 light years away

Alpha Centauri

a _______ is a shortcut to travel the interstellar space

wormhole

_______ are leftover icy bodies that releasese gases as it orbits the sun

comets

_______ are leftover rocky bodies smaller thana planet that orbits the sun

asteroid

_______ are leftover rocky/metallic fragments of an asteroid,c omet, or planet

meteoroid

_______ are streaks of light seen when a meteoroid hets up in the atmosphere

meteor 

_______ are leftover meteor fragments that reaches the ground

meteorite 

_______ is between Mars and Jupiter, and contains most of the ateroids in our solar system

asteroid belt

_______ is between pluto and the termination shock (where solar winds are slower than the speed of sound)

Kulper Belt

_______ is beyond Pluto’s orbit where comets come from

Oort Cloud

all chemical elements ae formed in _______, the addition/removal of nucleons (protons/neutrons)

nucleosynthetic processes

earliest element synthesis occurred during the _______, which produced most of the universe’s hydrogen and helium

Big Bang nucleosynthesis 

_______ in stars produced the majority of other nautrally occurring elements

stellar nucleosynthesis

stars are formed by _______, gravitational collapse of giant dust and gas clouds made of hydrogen and helium

nebula

gravity will pull hydrogen into a nebula, then it starts to spin and heat up, eventually forming a _______, the result of a nebulae

protostar

a protostar moves in to the _______ (pre-main sequence; still forming), the transform into a _______ (like ours) or a _______ (Sirius)

T-Tauri Phase, low/medium mass star, higher mass/massive star

low/medium mass stars fransform into _______ → _______ (can birth planets) → _______ → _______ (emits no heat or light)

red giants → planetary nebula → white dwarf → black dwarf

higher mass/massive stars transform into _______ → _______ (death of a large star) → _______ or _______

red super giants → supernova → neutron star or black hole

a _______ is a dense city-size ball of neutrons

neutron star

a _______ is an enourmous star that emits no light and has a strong gravity prevents the pastest particles in the universe from escaping

black hole

planets start of as dust grains and emerge from _______, giant donut-shaped disk of gas and dust that circles young stars

protosuns

terrestrial planets form from collisions and the accretion of _______ by gravitational attraction, whereas jovian planets are formed by _______

planetsimals, gas accretion 

the last giant impact that formed earth was the _______, which threw rock, gas, and dust into space to form the moon

moon-forming impact

the _______ of the protosun is where metals and minerals condens einto planets

central region 

_______ of the protosun is where polycyclic aromatic hydrogarcoms (PAHs) exisst, allowing forming planets to include condense carbon compounds 

outside the soot line 

_______ of the protosun is where low temperatures allow condensing planets to include volatile molecules such as water, ammonia, and methane

outside the frost line 

the biosphere formed from _______ and _______ (chondrites), both of which brought volatile elements (hydrogen and oxygen; mostly water), carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus (dissolved salts/gas)

comets, primitive meteorites (chondrites)

true or false: organic molecules, such as glycine, were found in  comet dust

true

_______ elements compose the surface dn crust of earth, while _______ elements compose the core

lithophilic (rock-loving), siderophilic (iron-loving) 

like other terrestrial planets, Earth went through 4 developmental stages, such as _______, partitioning in to different sections

differentiation

like other terrestrial planets, Earth went through 4 developmental stages, such as _______, impact from other objects (comets, asteroids)

cratering

like other terrestrial planets, Earth went through 4 developmental stages, such as _______, low land areas filled with water and magna

flooding

like other terrestrial planets, Earth went through 4 developmental stages, such as _______, active geology, tectonic plates, mountain ranges, recyclation of minerals, weathering, erosion

slow surface evolution (habitability)