AST151 Winter 2014 Lecture 1

AST251
LifeonOtherWorlds
ast251@astro.utoronto.ca
AST251|UofT|Dr.RodriguezHidalgo| 1
Welcome!
Istherelifeoutthere?
Whoisheretohelpyoulearn?
Me=Dr.PaolaRodriguezHidalgo
+TeachingAssistants
Whoareyou?
WhoisfromToronto?WhoisnotfromCanada?Whohas
morethan30mincommuteeachwaytocometoclass?
Whoisarstyearstudent?Whohastakenan
Astronomyrelatedcoursebefore?Whohasseenthe
constellaPonsintheSouthernHemisphere?
Please,completetheIntroductorySurveyonPortalsowe
canlearnmoreaboutyouandyourinterests.
Whoareyou?
Whohasaclassrightbeforethisone?
>ChangePmeofthebeginningoftheclass:4:15pm
Whoareyou?
Whydidyouchoosethisclass?
BasicGoalsofthisCourse
CatalogCourseDescripFon:Scholarlydiscussionofthe
probabilitythatthereareplanetswithlifeelsewhereinthe
universe,fromtheperspecPveofcurrentideasconcerningthe
originandevoluPonoftheuniverse,thesolarsystemandlife.
SearchtechniquesandpossibiliPesforinterstellartraveland
spacecoloniesarediscussed.Intendedforlifesciences
students.*
*Noprerequisitesthough.
WhereareweintheUniverse?Howdidthe
Earthform?
WhatisLife?WhatarethecondiFonsforLifeto
survive?
HowarewesearchingforLife?
L1:Beabletodescribe,assess,andappreciatewhatourposiFonin
theUniverseis,whattheUniverseconsistsof,andthemajor
Fmescales.
L2:BeabletoidenPfythekeyrequirementsforlifeonandbeyond
Earth,andassessthepossibilityoflifebeyondEarthandwhatit
representsforhumankind.
L3:Beabletodescribeandassesshowwearecarryingoutthesearch
forlifebeyondEarthintheSolarSystemandbeyond.
L4:BeabletoexplainhowweusethescienFcmethodtodevelop
newscienPcknowledge,inparPcularappliedtotheneweldof
Astrobiology.
L5:DemonstratecriFcalthinking,reasoninginthedevelopingof
ideas,andcriPcalreecPon.DevelopcriFcalassessmentofreference
sources.LearntocriPcizeconstrucPvely.
L6:ShowclearandcoherentcommunicaFonskills,bothorallyandin
wriFng.
SomeofmyExtraTeachingGoals
SPmulateyourcuriosity.
Transfermypassionforsciencetoyou.
HelpyoubecomeamoreawareciPzenoftheworld.
ShowyouthatyoucanenjoylearningaboutAstrobiology!
Howarewegoingtoreachthose
LearningGoals?
Firsthalfofeachclass:lectures,discussions,and
quesPons/answers.
Secondhalfofeachclass:groupdiscussionsand
acPvelearning.
RequiredMaterial
TWOrequiredtextbooks:
1)LifeintheUniverse
BenneV&Shostak
AddisonWesley
3rdediFon(2010)
RequiredMaterial
TWOrequiredtextbooks:
1)LifeintheUniverse
BenneV&Shostak
AddisonWesley
3rdediFon(2010)
2)LifeintheUniverseAcFviFesManual
Prather,Oerdahl,&Slater
AddisonWesley
2ndediFon(2006)
RequiredMaterial
iClicker:Bringittoeveryclass
Why?
Ithelpsmetogetasenseofwhatyou
understand
Ithelpsyoutoremainengageintheclass,
getasenseofwhatyouunderstand,and
retainthematerialforlonger.
RequiredMaterial
iClicker:Bringittoeveryclass
Score:
Halfjustfortrying
Otherhalfifyouanswercorrectly
Wedropyourworst3days(including
zero)ofthesemester
RequiredMaterial
RegisteryouriClicker:
RequiredMaterial
Pen/pencilandpaper
Basiccalculator
OutsideofClass:
DailyaccesstoPortal
RequiredMaterial
Pen/pencilandpaper
Basiccalculator
OutsideofClass:
DailyaccesstoPortal:
ContactInformaFon,Lectures,Announcements,Registeryour
iClicker,DiscussionBoard,CourseOutline,CourseCalendar,and
otherHandouts.
MarkingScheme
Totalof100pointsduringthesemester
Grades
ThisisnotaneasyAorbirdcourse
Noextrapointswillbeoered
FinalComments
WriFngCentres
AcademicHonestyPlagiarism
hVp://www.wriFng.utoronto.ca/advice/using
sources/hownottoplagiarize
StudentswithDisabiliFes
WeareheretoHelp!
WewantyoutoLEARN!
IfatanypointyouarehavingdiculPeswiththe
course,contactus:onPortal,OceHours,talktome
alerclassortoyourTA,emailusat
ast251@astro.utoronto.ca
OceHours
WhatPmeworksbestforyou?
A
B
D
E
Star Trek
Alien(s)
Astrobiology:
Sciences Answer
We are
science
detectives
Wherearewe?Whatisoutthere?Whatare
thecondiFonsoutthere?
WhatisLife?UnderwhichcondiFonsdoesit
survive?
WhatisLife?
Weseemtorecognizelifewhenweseeit.Butdowe
knowwhatwearelookingfor?
Whendowethinkthatsomethingisliving?
Itgrows?Sodocrystals
Itmoves?Sodoclouds
Iteats,spreadsandreplicates?Sodoesre
WehavenogooddeniFonoflife.
WhatisLife?
ThesituaFoninanalogoustothedeniFonof
waterafewhundredofyearsago,beforewe
knewitschemistry.
WhatisWater?AtthatFme,itcouldnotbe
denedbutitcouldbedescribedandrecognized.
WhatisWater?
Answer:Lavoisiershowed(in1783)thatwater
consistsofhydrogenandoxygeninatomic
proporFons2:1.Nowwaterisdenedasthe
chemicalcompoundH2O.
ISTHERELIFEOUTTHERE?
survive?
HowcanwesearchforLife?
survive?
HowcanwesearchforLife?
PhilosophicalorScienFcQuesFons?
WhatisScience?
(andwhatisnot?)
WhatisScience?
Alsodiculttodene
CarefulobservaFonsofphenomena
Canwestudypastevents?
WhatisScience?
Alsodiculttodene
CarefulobservaFonsofphenomena
Canwestudypastevents?
Carefulstudyofevidence
TheScienFcMethod
1.Look
2.Comeupwithrules
3.Lookmorecarefully/
dierently/elsewhere
totestrules
4.Ifruleswork,repeat3.
Iftheyfail,gobackto2
Key ingredients:
Observations
Rules that make predictions
(aka models/hypotheses)
Tests (i.e. more observations)
WhatisScience?
Hypothesis.MustbetestedobservaPonallyorbyexperiments.
Model.Asystemofhypothesesoragood,workinghypothesis.
Makesspecic,testablepredicPons.
Theory.Asystemofmodelswhichareknowntowork.
Law.ATheorythatexplainsmanyexperiments.
(Newtonslawofgravity).
(Thereareexceptions,EinsteinsTheoryofGeneralRelativityexplains
moreobservationsthanNewtonsLawofGravity)
WhatisScience?
Hypothesis.MustbetestedobservaPonallyorbyexperiments.
Model.Asystemofhypothesesoragood,workinghypothesis.
Makesspecic,testablepredicPons.
Theory.Asystemofmodelswhichareknowntowork.
Law.ATheorythatexplainsmanyexperiments.
(Newtonslawofgravity).
Canascientifictheorybeprovedtruebeyondalldoubt?
WhatisScience?
OccamsRazor
ThesimpleroftwomodelsorhypothesisisthebeVerone
VeriableObservaFons
TheobservaFonsneedtoberepeatable
DopersonaltesFmonialscountasscienFcevidence?Why?
But,arescienFstseyewitnesses?
Itcanbeveriedbyanyone(withpreviousknowledge).
TheScienFcMethod
Ingroups:Comeupwithan
observaPonandascienPc
methodprocesstostudyit
(5min)
TheUniverseisbeauFful
TheLawsofPhysicsandChemistryareUniversal
WhatabouttheLawsofBiology?>Wedontknow
HowdidlifeformonEarth?UnderwhichcondiFonsit
emerges?WhereshouldwesearchforLifethen?>
WeneedtoknowthecondiFons
Marsnow
(Possibly)MarslongFmeago
>condiFonschange
FindingNOlifewouldbea
signicantresult
Butwethinklifeseemsplausible!
EvaluaFngScienFcSources
Page4AcFvityManual:ClaimsthatsoundscienPccometo
usfromavarietyofmediasources.Imagineyousawthe
following2stories:
NewsItemA
NewsItemB
Headline:CancerRiskReducEons
MayLieinFoodsWeEat
Headline:BlazingLaserGunCures
Cancerfrom1MileAway
PublicaPon:NewEnglandJournal
ofMedicine
PublicaPon:HealthyLivingTimes
Author(s):SusanYiandD.L.
Strendinsky,DavidsonSmithUniv.
Author(s):J.Clarke,Centerfor
HealingwithoutNarcoEcsDivision
ofLaserSalesandMarkeEng
NewsItemA
NewsItemB
MayLieinFoodsWeEat
Cancerfrom1MileAway
ofMedicine
WhenevaluaFngthescienFccredibilityofanewsitem,
the1ststepistoconsideriftheclaimisplausiblefroma
scienFcperspecFve.Whichclaimdoyouthinkseemsmore
plausible?Why?
NewsItemA
NewsItemB
MayLieinFoodsWeEat
Cancerfrom1MileAway
ofMedicine
WhichpublicaFondoyouthinkseemsmostscienFcally
credible?Why?
NewsItemA
NewsItemB
MayLieinFoodsWeEat
Cancerfrom1MileAway
ofMedicine
WhichauthordoyouthinkseemsmostscienFcally
credible?Why?
NewsItemA
NewsItemB
MayLieinFoodsWeEat
Cancerfrom1MileAway
ofMedicine
WhichauthordoyouthinkseemsmostscienFcally
credible?Why?
ReadingsfornextweekwillbeintheClassCalendaronPortal
(butyoucanstartbyreadingChapter3:3.1,3.2&3.3)

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