Science Questions
Explore questions in the Science category that you can ask Spark.E!
From the Scientific American article "A Planet is Born," we learn that there are, broadly speaking, two different sizes of dust particles: tiny (like smoke particles) and large (like sand grains). Why do we think it is more productive to look for the larger sandlike grains in order to determine whether planets are present in orbit around another star?
From the "Flat Earth" video, in one popular variant of the Flat Earth theory, our apparent weight is not caused by gravity but rather a constant upward acceleration of the flat disk of the Earth. Describe an observational fact that refutes this model.
From the Scientific American article "Alone in the Milky Way," although the appearance of life on Earth only a billion years into the planet's history would make us optimistic about discovering life elsewhere, the development of more complex life (like us) seems to be extremely unlikely because of the history of life's development since that first single-celled organism appeared. Explain why.
From the video "Crash Course: Saturn," explain what properites of the lakes on the surface of Titan make us think there is active weather in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan.
From the TESS Planet Hunter discover video, NASA scientists have created two possible models to represent TOI 700 d, the Earth-sized planet orbiting in the habitable zone of its parent star. They predict that the mostly-rocky planet will have an extra feature in its spectrum that wouldn't appear in a mostly-water planet model. What is the extra spectral signature?
From the reading "Philosophy and the Scientific Method," explain one of the benefits of irrefutable ideas and also explain the major weakness of a system of knowledge based upon irrefutable ideas.
The analysis of Martian rocks on Earth show that they contain
T/FIf they existed, and if they were watching, a civilization at the center of the Milky Way could have detected our first TV signals by now.
Where have scientists begun a concerted search for life outside of Earth?
Which of the following statements best reflects our current knowledge about the term f life in the equationNumber of Civilizations = Np x f life x f civilization x fnow?
Which of the following gases, which we might be able to detect in infrared spectra, would be a strong indicator of life on another planet?
The only place outside of Earth where there is irrefutable evidence for (ancient, microbial) life isa) the Moon.b) Mars.c) Europa.d) Titan.e) None of the above - there is no irrefutable evidence for life beyond Earth.
Which of the following is the most important for maintaining a stable climate on Earth over the time it took for large organisms to evolve?
The Voyager I and II spacecraft visited the jovian planets in the 1980s. When will they reach the nearest stars?
T/FThe two Voyager spacecraft carry a message from Earth, just in case an alien civilization ever runs across them.
After Mars, the next most likely candidates for life in the solar system area) Oort-cloud comets.b) the jovian planets.c) asteroids.d) the large moons of the jovian planets.e) Kuiper-belt comets.
If we develop spacecraft that can take humans to nearby solar systems at a few percent of the speed of light, how long would it be before we could conceivably populate all habitable planets in the entire Milky Way?
In 1974, a radio message was sent out from the Arecibo observatory in Puerto Rico. How far has it gotten, approximately?
T/FAlthough antimatter is an interesting theoretical idea, there is no evidence that it actually exists.
SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) searches for communications from life in planets and moons