Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
Exam Review
Course Introduction
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) course explores the scientific efforts and methodologies used to detect signs of intelligent life beyond Earth. Students examine the history, technology, and interdisciplinary approaches that drive SETI research, including the use of radio and optical telescopes, data analysis techniques, and the challenges of distinguishing artificial signals from natural cosmic phenomena. The course also delves into the philosophical, cultural, and ethical implications of discovering intelligent extraterrestrial life, fostering a comprehensive understanding of humanitys quest to answer one of the most profound questions: Are we alone in the universe?
Recommended Textbook
Life in the Universe 4th Edition by Jeffrey O. Bennett
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13 Chapters
1172 Verified Questions
1172 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/1023 Page 2
Chapter 1: A Universe of Life
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28 Verified Questions
28 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20263
Sample Questions
Q1) 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
Answer: A
Q2) At its most fundamental level, the goal of astrobiology is to A) discover the connection between life and the places it is found
B) find how life on Earth originated
C) find life beyond the Earth
D) understand the biological makeup of other life forms
Answer: A
Q3) The ancient view of an Earth-centered geocentric universe suggested that life elsewhere should be A) common
B) rare
C) this view gives us no clue of the likelihood of life elsewhere
D) at the center of another, parallel universe
Answer: B
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Page 3
Chapter 2: The Science of Life in the Universe
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73 Verified Questions
73 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following was NOT a contribution made by the Greeks in the development of modern science?
A) The willingness to challenging new ideas
B) The use of mathematics to explore new ideas
C) The willingness to discard ideas if they didn't work
D) The willingness to prove preconceived ideas
Answer: D
Q2) Scientists always try to
A) be as subjective as possible
B) be as objective as possible
C) disagree with the current paradigm of the time
D) agree with the current paradigm of the time
Answer: B
Q3) The discovery of a supernova by Tycho Brahe in 1572 contradicted the commonly held belief that the universe was
A) unchanging
B) spherical
C) infinite
D) perfect
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: The Universal Context of Life
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123 Verified Questions
123 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20265
Sample Questions
Q1) The Local Group is an example of a
A) galaxy cluster
B) galaxy
C) supercluster
D) planetary system
Answer: D
Q2) How many electrons are present in the ion of the isotope of oxygen, ¹ O³ if oxygen has an atomic number of 8?
A) 18
B) 5
C) 8
D) 11
Answer: D
Q3) The planets in the solar system
A) revolve around the Sun in the same direction
B) orbit around the Sun in nearly the same plane
C) have nearly circular orbits
D) all of these are true
Answer: D
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Page 5
Chapter 4: The Habitability of Earth
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149 Verified Questions
149 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20266
Sample Questions
Q1) Limestone is a common type of
A) metamorphic rock
B) meteoritic rock
C) igneous rock
D) sedimentary rock
Q2) A radioactive isotope is
A) an unstable nucleus that gives off radio waves
B) a nucleus that formed from the fusion of two other nuclei
C) a stable nucleus that is formed from the fission of a large unstable nucleus
D) an unstable nucleus that spontaneously breaks apart
Q3) Fossils of early life are very difficult to identify in very old rocks because early life
A) was very simple and microscopic in size
B) was not made of organic material that could be replaced by minerals
C) was so different to life found on Earth today that we are not capable of identifying it
D) did not leave behind any fossilized remains
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Chapter 5: The Nature of Life on Earth
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120 Verified Questions
120 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the scientific method, natural selection is classified as a
A) theory
B) hypothesis
C) model
D) principle
Q2) Lipids are more commonly known as
A) enzymes
B) sugars
C) fats
D) organic acids
Q3) Which kinds of mutation tend to have the most dramatic effects on protein structure?
A) all mutations are equally dramatic
B) those which change a single base that do not result in a change in the amino acid
C) those which change a single base that result in a single amino acid being changed
D) those that add or delete a base within a gene
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Chapter 6: The Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth
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130 Verified Questions
130 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In order for organic molecules to have formed on the early Earth, what do we know could not have been present in the atmosphere in significant quantities?
A) oxygen (O )
B) nitrogen (N )
C) carbon dioxide (CO )
D) argon (Ar)
Q2) The first eukarya appeared
A) 4.6 billion years ago
B) around 3.5 billion years ago
C) 4.0 billion years ago
D) at least 2.1 billion years ago or perhaps even earlier
Q3) Most meteorites from the inner solar system originate from
A) the Moon
B) Mars
C) Mercury
D) Venus
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Chapter 7: Searching for Life in Our Solar System
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60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20269
Sample Questions
Q1) Which kind of robotic space mission enables us to take a quick look at a planet?
A) sample return
B) flyby
C) orbiter
D) lander/probe
Q2) How does the surface temperature and atmospheric pressure on Venus compare with the Earth?
A) higher temperatures and pressures
B) lower temperatures but higher pressures
C) lower temperatures and pressures
D) higher temperatures but lower pressures
Q3) If ice were denser than water, during winter lakes and ponds would
A) completely freeze
B) remain liquid
C) freeze on the surface but remain liquid beneath
D) freeze on the bottom but remain liquid at the surface
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Chapter 8: Mars
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104 Verified Questions
104 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20270
Sample Questions
Q1) At the Mars Pathfinder landing site, the surrounding rocks are scattered and stacked against each other. This suggests that the spacecraft landed in
A) an area of explosive volcanic activity
B) an ancient floodplain
C) an area subjected to wind erosion
D) the debris from a giant impact
Q2) For water to have been stable on Mars in the past,
A) temperature must have been higher and the atmospheric pressure lower
B) temperature must have been lower and the atmospheric pressure higher
C) both the temperature and the atmospheric pressure must have been higher
D) both the temperature and the atmospheric pressure must have been lower
Q3) What color does the planet Mars appear to the naked eye in the sky?
A) yellow
B) white
C) blue
D) red
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Chapter 9: Life on Jovian Moons
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80 Verified Questions
80 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20271
Sample Questions
Q1) The lack of large impact craters on the surface of Europa is consistent with A) active volcanism that is constantly resurfacing the crust
B) the surface being covered with an ocean of liquid water
C) the crust being so thick and hard that impacts leave no marks on the surface
D) a subsurface ocean of water because large impacts will break the thin crust causing water and slushy ice below to flood out and resurface the crust
Q2) Compared to the total energy available to support life on Earth, the total energy available to support life in a Europan ocean would be
A) about the same
B) much larger
C) slightly larger
D) much smaller
Q3) Compared to the moons of Jupiter, the moons of the more distant Jovian planets
A) contain a higher proportion of rock
B) are made of a mixture of rock and methane ice
C) contain higher overall proportions of water ice as well as methane and other ices
D) are made completely of methane ice
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Chapter 10: The Nature and Evolution of Habitability
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65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Evidence that the recent rise in carbon dioxide concentration is due to human activity and not natural factors comes from
A) the amount of the rise in the atmospheric concentration tracks almost perfectly with the amount of carbon dioxide being released by industry
B) estimates of changes in the amount of carbon dioxide from natural sources such as volcanoes and the oceans can account for no more than about 1% of the rise in the atmospheric concentration
C) the ratio of carbon isotopes is consistent with the increase in carbon dioxide levels coming primarily from the burning of fossil fuels
D) all of these constitute evidence
Q2) Today, global average temperatures are estimated using A) orbiting satellites
B) weather stations
C) water temperature measurements by ships
D) all of these
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12
Chapter 11: Extrasolar Planets: Their Nature and Potential
Habitability
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100 Verified Questions
100 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20273
Sample Questions
Q1) Brown dwarfs are
A) stars in the process of forming
B) very cool, low mass stars of spectral type M
C) the burnt out cores of dead stars
D) objects with insufficient mass to sustain nuclear fusion in their cores
Q2) When high-mass stars dies, they explode as supernovae, leaving behind a
A) white dwarf
B) neutron star or black hole
C) brown dwarf
D) red dwarf
Q3) Many of the extrasolar planets that have been detected directly to date are
A) very large and at great distances from their parent star
B) small and at great distances from their parent star
C) small and close to their parent star
D) very large and close to their parent star
Q4) Which of the following could be a stable planetary orbit in a binary system?
A) a large orbit around both stars in a close binary system
B) a "figure-of-eight" orbit about both stars in a close binary system
C) an orbit close to one of the stars in a close binary system
D) a large orbit around both stars in a wide binary system
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Chapter 12: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
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75 Verified Questions
75 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20274
Sample Questions
Q1) The range of frequencies that a radio telescope is sensitive to is referred to as its
A) sensitivity
B) band
C) bandwidth
D) bandpass
Q2) Which term in the simplified Drake equations depends on sociological factors?
A) NHP
B) fl f
C) fc
D) fn w
Q3) Which of the following signals from an advanced civilization would be easiest to detect?
A) high intensity, narrow bandwidth
B) low intensity, wide bandwidth
C) high intensity, wide bandwidth
D) low intensity, narrow bandwidth
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14
Chapter 13: Interstellar Travel and the Fermi Paradox
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65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20275
Sample Questions
Q1) Given how many times intelligent civilizations could have appeared over the universe's history, it is most likely that if other civilizations exist, they will
A) be slightly less advanced than us
B) be much less advanced than us
C) have about the same level of technology as us
D) be much more advanced than us
Q2) It is very likely that the general theory of relativity will need to be refined because it is currently incompatible with
A) electromagnetism
B) quantum mechanics
C) Newtonian gravity
D) all of these
Q3) Who started launching liquid-filled rockets in the United States in 1926?
A) Robert Goddard
B) Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
C) Hermann Oberth
D) Wernher von Braun
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